Hungary elects its first female president
Katalin Novak, 44, was elected as the new president of Hungary on Thursday, becoming the youngest and first-ever female incumbent in the role in the country’s history.
The National Assembly appointed Novak, who had been serving as the vice president of the ruling Fidesz party, to a five-year term after she delivered a rousing speech calling for national unity.
Novak defeated economist Peter Rona in a vote that was split down party lines within the legislature. Her 137 votes to Rona’s 51 secured her success. She replaces Janos Ader, who was also a member of Fidesz. Ader was unable to run for president again due to constitutional limits that permit an individual to serve only two five-year terms.
Prior to her election, Novak had served as a member of the National Assembly since 2018 and the minister for family affairs within Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s fourth government from 2020 to 2021. While serving as the vice president of Fidesz, she was tasked with overseeing economic support for Hungary’s populace, including housing subsidies, state-backed home loans, and tax cuts.
Speaking prior to the vote, Novak pledged to defend the country’s constitution, which was drafted and approved by Fidesz, showing her support for the continued implementation of key elements of Orban’s agenda. Officially, the role of president is a non-partisan position, the duties of which are largely ceremonial, but the election marks a victory for the prime minister’s party.
The opposition United for Hungary party had condemned Novak’s nomination for president, accusing Fidesz of picking “a party soldier for the third time in a row for one of the most important public offices in Hungary.”
“Those saying that I would be just a puppet in this position degrade not me personally, but women in general. They cannot [imagine] that a woman can be a sovereign public [official] capable of making autonomous decisions," Novak was quoted by Hungarian media as having said.
