Prime Minister Viktor Orban is in full damage control mode after an outcry over President Katalin Novak's pardon of a leader of a children's home who covered up paedophilia by one of its directors.

The scandal has wrecked the ruling Fidesz party's carefully burnished image as a defender of the family and children against Western Europen "gender ideologies". The scandal is especially damaging as it comes just four months before the European Parliamentary (EP) and local government elections.

The Hungarian government will propose an amendment to the constitution that would prevent those convicted of crimes against children from receiving presidential pardons, Prime Minister announced in a short video on Facebook on February 8. Orban’s proposal effectively means that the president’s powers would be curtailed in what would be the 13th amendment of the Basic Law in as many years. 

"There shall be no mercy for paedophiles," Orban said with a grim face, looking very weary after days of mounting public anger. The President's Office replied quickly, saying Novak would "gladly sign" the legislation once MPs passed it.

There are mounting calls for the resignation of Novak, a former Fidesz family minister and Orban loyalist, who was only elected by the Fidesz-dominated parliament in 2022.There is also growing pressure on former Justice Minister Judit Varga, who gave her consent to the pardon. Varga heads Fidesz EP list.

Local journalists said it would be politically dangerous for Orban to keep them in their position. His final decision will hinge on how public sentiment evolves. As in all major issues, Fidesz is gauging people’s opinions on the issue and is asking the public whether they would support the resignation of Novak and  Varga.

Novak gave a presidential pardon to a former deputy head of a children's home in Bicske for covering up the sexual abuse committed by the institution's director for years.

Between 2004 and 2016, the director sexually abused at least 10 underage boys. In 2018, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, while his deputy, Endre K, received more than three years. A police investigation began in 2016 after a former resident committed suicide.

Endre K. helped his boss escape justice in 2011 when he used blackmail to force one of the boys to withdraw his testimony, signed in the presence of the director.

After the clemency, the former deputy director will have no criminal record and will have a clean sheet when he applies for a new job.

Local media writes that the former deputy director, an ethnic Hungarian from Romania, has fled back to his home country to escape the public fury.

Novak, who issued the pardon along with around two dozen others on the occasion of Pope Francis' April 2023 visit to Hungary, has denied that she acted improperly and rejected calls for a formal explanation of her decision. She called decisions concerning presidential pardons a divisive issue, which added fuel to the fire. Novak defended the decision, saying it is the discretion of the president not to give a reason for presidential pardons.

Novak’s pardon, which surfaced accidentally last Friday as defendants were informed by Hungary’s highest court that the case had been dropped, sparked public outrage and rare unity among opposition parties from the far-right Our Homeland to leftist parties.

The public has been speculating for days as to why Novak pardoned the man, on the pretext of the Pope's visit to Hungary,whether it was just an administrative error or the defendants received help from higher levels.

There is no firm evidence that Viktor Orban’s brother had close ties with the defendant. The strongest link uncovered by investigative media showed that Aron Orban, who leads a youth wrestling club, organised training sessions at the Bicske children's home.

In past crises, Fidesz has waited until the dust settled. Since 2012 the ruling nationalist party only succumbed to public pressure on three major issues, when it withdrew the internet tax, the Sunday shopping ban and when Pal Schmidt, a former Olympic champion, was forced to resign from the presidency in 2012 due to plagiarism.

Liberal Momentum has organised a protest for Friday over the pardon in front of the presidential palace in the Castle district.