The Hungarian Parliament adopted on Monday July 13 a constitutional amendment aimed in particular at ending the mandate of President Tamás Sulyok, described as a “puppet” of Viktor Orbán by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. With this vote, “we have completed the constitutional reform of the Orban regime”, welcomed Péter Magyar after the vote.
The pro-European conservative leader, who won the April legislative elections with an overwhelming majority, promised to dismantle “brick by brick” the system put in place by his predecessor, champion of illiberal ideology. Starting with the president whom he invited to resign several times, without success.
The 12-point constitutional amendment was adopted by 139 votes for and 6 against, in a vote boycotted by Viktor Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party, which denounces an attempt to establish “an autocratic regime”, a reproach which has often been addressed to it in the past.
From the United States, where he went to watch the final phase of the Football World Cup, Viktor Orbán called on Hungarians “to resist if the president is forcibly ousted” in a message on Facebook. All eyes are now on the latter, who if he chooses to delay his departure by refusing to sign the voted amendment could trigger a constitutional crisis.
Departure or dismissal
“He now has five days to either resign within the set deadline or sign this amendment to the Basic Law,” said Péter Magyar, who promised to initiate impeachment proceedings if he did not do so.
The amendment provides for the end of Tamás Sulyok’s mandate the day after its entry into force, then the election of a new president for a period of five years by Parliament, where Péter Magyar’s Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority of the 199 seats. Before the vote, Tamás Sulyok, 70, denounced a procedure which “violates the principles of the rule of law, democracy and separation of powers”.
The amendment, presented as a transitional measure until the adoption of a new Constitution following a public consultation, was also criticized by human rights organizations. Amnesty International considered that Tamás Sulyok had “the right to due process”, while Human Rights Watch judged that these constitutional tinkerings “recall the Fidesz era”.
However, jurist Andras Baka, former president of the Supreme Court, whose mandate was cut short under Orban for having expressed his concern about judicial reforms, considers Péter Magyar’s approach justified if it opens the way to a new constitutional order.
Polls
“In a country governed by the rule of law, such extraordinary measures cannot be used, but Hungary has become a captive state under Orban,” he said, adding that Tamás Sulyok and other senior state officials were appointed “not to limit the government’s power but to ensure the political survival of the old system even in the event of electoral defeat.”
According to a survey carried out in May by the study center, 21.67% of Hungarian voters want Tamás Sulyok to leave. Former president of the Constitutional Court, he was little known to the public before being elected by Parliament for a five-year term in 2024.
The voted amendment also plans to limit the number of mandates for deputies to three, which would prevent several opposition figures from running for office in 2030. The text also restores the budgetary control powers of the Constitutional Court.
It sets the age limit for its judges at 70, a provision which would directly affect the president of the institution, Peter Polt, former attorney general appointed under Orban. It also creates a National Office for the Recovery and Protection of Public Assets, which would be given broad powers to combat corruption, which became systemic under the Orban era.
