The Hungarian parliament has adopted an extraordinary constitutional amendment that prematurely terminates the mandate of President Tamas Sujok.
The historic vote was held by a clear majority of 139 votes “for“ against only 6 “against“, after the opposition party “Fidesz“ of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban boycotted the session. The decision, reported as leading news by the authoritative European publication Politico, marks an unprecedented clash at the top of power in Budapest and is part of the large-scale campaign “Operation Purifying Fire“ to remove the cadres of the old regime.
Political earthquake in Budapest
According to information from Politico and leading world media, the voted 17th amendment to the constitution ends Sujok's rule a little more than two years after his appointment. He was appointed by Viktor Orbán in 2024 after corruption scandals in the previous administration, but after the catastrophic loss of “Fidesz“ in the parliamentary elections in April this year, the new government in the person of Prime Minister Péter Magyar declared him a “puppet of the old regime“, blocking democratic reforms.
The constitutional changes give Sujok a period of 5 days to sign the amendment, with which he himself terminates his powers. Prime Minister Péter Magyar has already categorically announced that if the head of state refuses to initial the document, parliament will immediately launch a formal impeachment procedure. The current president initially sought protection from the Constitutional Court, but the institution rejected his request, leaving him without a useful move.
Complete purge of institutions
In addition to the removal of the head of state, the adopted legislative package of the “Tisa“ party envisages drastic reforms aimed at clearing out Orbán loyalists:
- Retirement in the Constitutional Court: An age limit of 70 years is introduced for constitutional judges. This automatically removes four of the acting magistrates, including the court's president Peter Polt - a key ally of the previous regime.
- Limit of parliamentary mandates: The right to hold a parliamentary position is limited to a maximum of 12 years (three mandates). This decision caused tremors within the Fidesz party itself and led to the immediate resignation of its parliamentary leader Gergely Guias.
- Fighting corruption: An entirely new National Office for the Recovery and Protection of State Assets is being created with extraordinary investigative powers to investigate suspicious financial flows from the last 16 years.
Orbán's reaction and the international response
Former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose party ruled the country for almost two decades, harshly criticized the vote on social media, describing it as a "settling of scores with the presidential institution" and a threat to the rule of law. Orban himself left the country hours before the vote, heading to the United States. His supporters organized protests in front of the presidential palace "Sándor", calling the actions of the new majority a "constitutional coup".
For its part, the government of Péter Magyar insists that these radical moves are the only way to restore the rule of law and fulfill commitments to Brussels to unblock billions of euros in European funds. Analysts from Politico emphasize that Hungary is becoming the first country in the European Union to attempt a complete and forcible dismantling of an already established illiberal state system through the levers of a parliamentary supermajority.
If the changes go into effect as planned, the Hungarian parliament will have 30 days to elect an interim caretaker president. The reformers' ultimate goal is to develop an entirely new constitution in the fall that would introduce a direct election of the head of state by the citizens.