Hungarian lawmakers vote to remove President Tamas Sulyok
The constitutional change targets an Orban-era appointee and gives parliament a path to choose Hungary’s next head of state.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Hungary’s parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that would remove President Tamas Sulyok from office, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The vote marks another step by Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s government to weaken the remaining influence of figures tied to former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The measure passed Monday by 139 votes to six, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. It would end Sulyok’s tenure immediately and allow parliament to select a new president.
Sulyok, whose role is largely ceremonial, has five days to sign the amendment, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. Magyar has said lawmakers will begin impeachment proceedings if Sulyok refuses to sign it.
Sulyok and members of Orban’s Fidesz party boycotted the parliamentary session, according to the report.
Magyar presses campaign against Orban-era power
Magyar’s centre-right Tisza Party won a landslide election in April, ending 16 years of rule by Orban’s right-wing nationalist Fidesz party, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The victory gave Tisza a two-thirds parliamentary super-majority.
Since taking power, Magyar has moved against officeholders and institutions associated with the previous government, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The amendment approved Monday also includes judicial changes, creates a body to investigate alleged financial abuses under the former government and sets a 12-year limit on lawmakers’ service.
Parliament elected Sulyok in February 2024, after the resignation of Katalin Novak, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. Novak stepped down after granting a pardon to a man convicted of covering up child sexual abuse.
Sulyok previously served as head of Hungary’s Constitutional Court. After Tisza’s election win, Magyar said Sulyok was “unworthy to embody the unity of the Hungarian nation” and called on him to leave office once the new government was formed, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
When Sulyok did not resign by the deadline set by Magyar, the prime minister accused him in June of being a “puppet” of Orban and said he would remove him and other holdovers through constitutional means, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.
Presidential powers raised concerns for Tisza
The Hungarian presidency has limited day-to-day political power, but the office can approve laws and refer legislation to the Constitutional Court for review. Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that this raised concerns Sulyok could use the office to slow or block parts of Tisza’s reform programme.
Magyar later announced a broader plan called “Operation Cleansing Fire,” according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The programme seeks a new constitution, changes inside state institutions and the creation of an anticorruption office.
The vote leaves Sulyok facing a deadline to approve a constitutional amendment that directly ends his own term. If he declines, Magyar has said parliament will move to impeach him.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.