Hungary parliament votes to remove President Tamas Sulyok in latest anti-Orban move

Hungary's parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that would remove President Tamas Sulyok from office, in a move tied to the new government's effort to dismantle figures associated with former Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The vote took place on Monday in Budapest and passed by 139 votes to six. If enacted, the measure would end Sulyok's term immediately and allow parliament to choose a new president.

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The amendment comes after Peter Magyar's Tisza Party won the April election and ended 16 years of rule by Orban's Fidesz party. According to the supplied material, Sulyok and other members of Fidesz boycotted the parliamentary session. Sulyok, who was elected in February 2024 after the resignation of Katalin Novak, now has five days to sign the amendment.

Magyar has said parliament will begin impeachment proceedings if he does not sign it. The same amendment also introduces judicial reforms, creates a body to investigate alleged financial abuses under the previous government, and imposes a 12-year term limit on lawmakers. Those changes indicate that the new administration is moving beyond personnel changes and into a wider restructuring of state institutions.

The presidency in Hungary is largely ceremonial, but it still carries formal powers, including approving laws and referring them for review. The dispute is significant because it reflects a broader effort by Magyar's government to reverse parts of the Orban-era political order. The supplied material says Magyar has described Sulyok as unworthy to embody national unity and later called him a puppet of Orban.

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It also says he has presented a reform programme called Operation Cleansing Fire, aimed at installing a new constitution, purging state institutions and establishing an anticorruption office. Sulyok's position has been politically sensitive since he replaced Novak, who resigned after pardoning a man convicted of covering up child sexual abuse. His election in 2024 was intended to restore stability to the presidency, but the office has now become part of the wider contest between the new government and the structures left behind by Fidesz.

The current vote suggests that the confrontation is moving through constitutional channels rather than through a simple change of officeholders. What remains unclear is whether Sulyok will sign the amendment within the five-day deadline or whether parliament will proceed with impeachment. It is also not yet clear how quickly a new president could be elected if the measure takes effect.

The next developments will show whether Magyar's government can complete the legal steps needed to remove Sulyok and advance its wider reform agenda.

#Hungary #parliament #TamasSulyok #PeterMagyar #ViktorOrban

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