BOLD: Hungary’s parliament has voted to remove President Tamás Sulyok, a loyalist of former PM Viktor Orbán, from office. The move came after the Tisza coalition, led by new PM Péter Magyar, swept through Parliament with a two‑thirds majority.
The historic 17th constitutional amendment ends Sulyok’s term and removes the head of the Constitutional Court, Péter Polt, along with a package of new laws that will guide Hungary until a new constitution is drafted in a few years.
Sulyok now has five days to sign the amendment – effectively a death warrant – or refer it to the Constitutional Court. If the court takes the case, Magyar says he will launch impeachment proceedings that would suspend Sulyok automatically. Alternatively, Sulyok could resign to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Opposition Fidesz lawmakers walked out of the session, accusing the ruling Tisza party of turning Hungary into a tyranny. They say the amendment gives the government “arbitrary power to dismiss any public official” at once.
The amendment also bans Constitutional Court judges over 70 from serving, and blocks deputies who have served three terms from standing again – affecting more than half of the current Fidesz MPs.
András Baka, a former Supreme Court head, welcomed the president’s removal, citing Hungary’s shift from rule‑of‑law democracy to an authoritarian regime after 2010. He warned it will be difficult to dismantle the regime that was built to survive after electoral defeat.
