Hungary’s parliament is set to approve a constitutional amendment by Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s government to oust President Tamas Sulyok, who Magyar said was a puppet of former premier Viktor Orban.
Constitutional Amendment
The legislation, which comes after Magyar ended nationalist Orban’s 16-year rule in a landslide election in April, is part of Magyar’s efforts to dismantle Orban’s bastions of power, for which he says he received a strong mandate from voters.
The president has only limited powers to veto legislation or have it reviewed, but is an important symbolic figure. Magyar’s party Tisza has a supermajority in parliament which enables it to modify the constitution and roll back changes by Orban that it says eroded democracy.
Magyar said in a Facebook post on Saturday that parliament would approve the constitutional amendment on Monday to remove Sulyok. If Sulyok does not sign the legislation within five days, an impeachment proceeding would be launched, Magyar said.
Sulyok, who served for 10 years as a Constitutional Court judge until parliament appointed him president in 2024, said he has no political agenda. He has objected to the amendment, asking for an assessment from the Venice Commission, a panel of the Council of Europe human rights body which gives advice on whether constitutional changes are democratic.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
