BUDAPEST: Hungary’s ruling party on Thursday nominated Tamas Sulyok, the head Constitutional Court as the country’s next president.
Nationalist Orban ally Katalin Novak resigned from the post of the president earlier this month after it was discovered that she had exonerated accomplice of a convicted child abuser.
Hungary’s top judicial authority had suspended the journal that revealed the controversial decision to the public.
News of the pardon triggered outrage in Hungary, whose government has long campaigned to protect children from abuses. The issue turned into the biggest political crisis Orban faced since her return to power in 2010.
Fidesz parliamentary group leader Mate Kocsis said his party has trusted in Sulyok as he is the most suitable person to become the next president.
During a televised briefing in the western town of Balatonalmadi, he said Tamas Sulyok is best poised to embody the unity of the country.
Sulyok, 67, is not very known to the public. He became judge of the constitutional court judge in 2014 and two years later, the legislature nominated him the head of the 15-member judicial body.
Most opposition parties criticized Sulyok’s candidacy, terming him a “Fidesz party soldier”.
Kocsis added that Fidesz MPs want parliament that will be meeting on next Monday to elect the new president as soon as possible.
