Hungary’s ruling party nominated little-known judge Tamás Sulyok as the country’s new president Thursday, seeking to quiet a political crisis that saw the resignation of the previous head of state.
Hungarian President Katalin Novák, a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, resigned earlier this month after revelations that she had pardoned a man convicted of helping cover up child sexual abuse, with the scandal triggering protests in Budapest. Novák’s resignation is yet to be formally accepted in a vote by parliament, but this will likely happen on February 26, when the legislature reconvenes.
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party nominated Sulyok, the president of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, as its chosen replacement for Novák.