Hungary's parliament has voted to oust President Tamás Sulyok via a constitutional amendment passed by new Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party. The move is part of Magyar's effort to dismantle the system of former PM Viktor Orbán, whose Fidesz party lost power in April after 16 years. Sulyok has five days to sign or face impeachment, while the opposition Fidesz party boycotted the vote, accusing the new government of building a tyranny.
Parliamentary vote removing Sulyok
- ▪Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party used its two-thirds majority to pass the amendment
- ▪The amendment passed with 139 votes for and six against in the 199-member parliament
- ▪On July 13, 2026, Hungary's parliament approved a constitutional amendment to oust President Tamás Sulyok
Magyar dismantling Orban system
- ▪The Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar, ended the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party in a landslide election victory in April 2026
- ▪The legislation is part of Magyar's "Operation Cleansing Fire," a drive to end the Fidesz party's long grip on Hungarian politics and state institutions
- ▪Magyar has called President Sulyok a "puppet" of former premier Viktor Orbán and described the ouster as a step to eliminate Orbán's "mafia."
Constitutional amendment provisions
- ▪The 17th amendment to the constitution also sets a 12-year term limit for lawmakers
- ▪The amendment cites society's "serious loss of confidence" in Sulyok as the reason for his immediate removal
- ▪The amendment establishes an age limit of 70 for Constitutional Court judges, which would require its head, Péter Polt, to retire
Sulyok refusal to resign
- ▪Sulyok, who has so far refused to step down, has asked the Venice Commission for an assessment of the amendment
- ▪President Sulyok has five days to sign the amendment, refer it to the Constitutional Court, or resign
- ▪If Sulyok does not sign the amendment, Prime Minister Magyar has threatened to launch impeachment proceedings, which would automatically suspend him
Fidesz boycott of session
- ▪Gergely Gulyás, the head of Fidesz's parliamentary group, resigned on July 13, 2026, because the new term limit prevents his re-election
- ▪Lawmakers from the opposition Fidesz party boycotted the parliamentary vote on July 13, 2026
- ▪Fidesz accuses the Tisza party of building a tyranny and giving the government arbitrary power to dismiss public officials
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