©picture alliance / Anadolu | Robert Nemeti
Hungary will have a new president now that Tamás Sulyok has agreed to a constitutional amendment that ends his term of office. The signing paves the way for a sweeping political purge led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his Tisza party.
Sulyok signed the 17th constitutional amendment on Saturday, just within the five-day deadline he had been given after parliament approved the text. His term officially ends shortly after midnight, after which Parliament Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer will temporarily assume the presidential duties until Parliament elects a successor. The new president must be appointed within thirty days.
The amendment had already been rushed through Parliament earlier this week by a large majority at the behest of Tisza, Magyar’s party, which won the elections in April, thereby ending the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party. According to Magyar, Sulyok was a loyal ally of Orbán and had to be removed as part of a broader break with the previous regime.
Cleanup and reforms in Hungary
In addition to Sulyok’s departure, the amendment includes even more far-reaching reforms. For example, the head of the Constitutional Court must also step down, judges over the age of 70 will be barred from the Supreme Court, and members of parliament who have served three terms may not run for re-election. That last rule, in particular, hits Fidesz hard , as it means more than half of the current parliamentary caucus will be unable to return. Sulyok himself called the amendment a “turning point in Hungarian constitutional democracy” in a statement and said that the fundamental values of a free society have been trampled in the name of political power. Orbán also reacted strongly, speaking of tyranny. His party describes the vote as an attack on the rule of law. Magyar, on the other hand, presents the measure as a necessary correction after years of Orbán’s rule. He intends to continue working on a broader constitutional revision this fall, which could ultimately include a referendum. According to him, this will allow Hungary to reclaim “what Orbán’s regime has taken away for years.”
©picture alliance / Anadolu | Robert Nemeti