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Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment on Saturday that immediately ends his term as head of state, bowing to legislation passed by Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s ruling Tisza party.
The law advances Magyar’s broader campaign to dismantle the institutional power bases of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom Magyar ousted in a landslide election victory in April.
The amendment explicitly cites a serious loss of public confidence in Sulyok, whom Orban’s allies originally elected to office in early 2024.
Although Sulyok signed the decree to respect the letter of the law, the former Constitutional Court judge fiercely criticised the move, warning that the snap removal sets a dangerous precedent that damages the rule of law and the separation of powers.
The Tisza party, which commands a powerful two-thirds parliamentary majority, will now elect a temporary president for up to five years.
The sweeping amendment also imposes a 12-year term limit on lawmakers and forces the immediate retirement of the Constitutional Court’s current president, Peter Polt, a prominent Orban ally.
