July 13, 2026, 9:24 p.mJuly 13, 2026, 9:24 p.m
Hungary’s parliament has passed a constitutional amendment that, among other things, provides for the removal of President Tamas Sulyok. The new Prime Minister Peter Magyar accused Sulyok of supporting the policies of the former head of government Viktor Orban, who was voted out in April. 139 parliamentarians voted for the changes, creating the necessary two-thirds majority. Six abstained. The faction of Orban’s Fidesz party stayed away from the vote in protest.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar.Image: keystone
In order for the new regulations to come into force, Sulyok must countersign them. If he refused, Magyar threatened him with impeachment proceedings. This would have to be applied for by Parliament with a two-thirds majority and approved by the Constitutional Court.
In the event of a vacancy in the position of President, Parliament President Agnes Forsthoffer would temporarily take over his powers until there is a successor. In Hungary, the head of state is elected by parliament for five years.
Term of office of constitutional judges further restricted
The constitutional amendment also stipulates that the offices of constitutional judges end automatically when they reach the age of 70. This currently affects four of the 15 constitutional judges, including chairman Peter Polt, who is considered an Orban loyalist.
The constitutional changes also include limiting the term of office of MPs to twelve years. The regulation will come into force from the next general election in 2030. It would, for example, prohibit Orban from running for parliament again. He has been a member of parliament continuously from 1990 until now. However, he did not take up the mandate that he won as the top candidate of his Fidesz party in the election in April of this year.
Limits for prime ministerial mandates
In mid-June, Magyar’s bourgeois Tisza party, with its two-thirds majority in parliament, passed a constitutional amendment that limits the prime minister’s term of office to eight years. It prevents Orban from becoming head of government again. He ruled from 1998 to 2002 and from 2010 until he was voted out. Magyar can therefore only be re-elected once at most.
Magyar and his Tisza party are also planning to draw up a completely new constitution that will replace the “Basic Law” introduced by Orban. He accused Orban of tailoring this piece of legislation entirely to his party’s needs for power. (hkl/sda/dpa)