BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 18, Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok has signed a constitutional amendment passed by Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s ruling Tisza Party that terminates his term as head of state, Sulyok said in a Saturday statement.
The legislation is part of Magyar’s efforts to dismantle the power bases of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, for which Magyar claims he received strong voter support after ousting the right-wing leader in an April election landslide.
The amendment ends Sulyok’s term immediately, citing society’s “serious loss of confidence” in a leader elected in early 2024 by lawmakers from Orban’s nationalist Fidesz Party.
Sulyok noted that he had no choice but to approve the amendment, as it complied with the letter of the law. However, the former Constitutional Court judge warned that the reform undermines the rule of law in Hungary.
He said: “The seventeenth amendment to the Constitution has marked a watershed in Hungary’s constitutional democracy. By removing public office holders in a manner that openly violates the rule of law … it sets a negative precedent that inflicts a deep wound on the constitutional values of democracy, the separation of powers, and the rule of law.”
