Hungary’s parliament has voted to oust President Tamás Sulyok, who was widely regarded as an ally of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who lost power in April after ruling for 16 years.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party used its two-thirds parliamentary majority to pass the 17th constitutional amendment, bringing the terms of President Tamás Sulyok and Constitutional Court President Péter Polt to an end.
The vote marked the most dramatic parliamentary session since the new government assumed office in early May, following its unexpected landslide victory over Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz Party in the 12 April election.
Sulyok now has five days to either approve the constitutional amendment, effectively ending his tenure, or send it to the Constitutional Court for review.
Should Tamás Sulyok decide to challenge the amendment by referring it to the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has vowed to begin impeachment proceedings, a process that would immediately remove Sulyok from active office.
Government officials have also urged the president to step down voluntarily, arguing that his resignation would help avert a constitutional standoff and protect national stability.
Lawmakers from the opposition Fidesz Party staged a walkout ahead of Monday’s vote, accusing the ruling Tisza Party of steering the country towards authoritarian rule.
Fidesz maintains that the constitutional amendment gives the government sweeping powers to remove public officials from office at its own discretion, with immediate effect.
“The great irony of the situation is that Fidesz have fallen foul of their own concept of power,” Péter Rona – a former opposition presidential candidate – told the BBC.
Hungary’s 2011 constitution, introduced under Viktor Orbán’s administration, reinforced a political system often described as “the winner takes all.”
During its time in power from 2010 to 2026, the Fidesz Party restructured key state institutions and appointed loyalists to positions intended to remain politically independent, relying on its own two-thirds parliamentary majority.
Members of the Tisza Party in parliament rose to their feet and applauded after the voting results were announced.
The constitutional amendment also requires Constitutional Court judges aged 70 and above to leave office and bars lawmakers who have served three parliamentary terms from seeking re-election—a provision that affects more than half of the current Fidesz legislators.
“I quite agree with the removal of the president,” András Baka, former head of the Supreme Court, told the BBC.
He said Hungary upheld the rule of law from 1989 to 2010, but claimed that after Fidesz assumed power, it took control of state institutions and turned the country into an authoritarian state.
“And it is now very difficult to break up a sophisticated authoritarian regime… which was designed to survive even after electoral defeat,” Baka said.
The 17th constitutional amendment is a broad package containing multiple legal reforms designed to govern the country until a new constitution is expected to be adopted within the next two to three years.
Baka said the only aspect of the legislative package he opposed was the provision barring lawmakers who have completed three parliamentary terms from seeking re-election.
“This limits the right of the public to vote for whom they wish,” he argued.
Since its defeat in the April elections, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz Party has struggled to regain momentum, with support continuing to decline in the aftermath of its unexpected loss.
Orbán has also kept a low public profile, declining to take his seat in parliament. On Monday, he travelled to the United States to watch the FIFA World Cup final.
Frustration is reportedly mounting within what remains of the Fidesz Party, with many members said to be unsettled by Viktor Orbán’s continued absence from public life.
Adding to the party’s difficulties, Gergely Gulyás, one of Fidesz’s most senior figures, stepped down as head of its parliamentary caucus on Monday.
