Tamás Sulyok approved the constitutional amendment that immediately ended his presidency, clearing another institutional obstacle from Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s campaign to dismantle the political system inherited from Viktor Orbán.
Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok has signed a constitutional amendment that immediately terminated his own term in office, bringing an extraordinary end to a confrontation that had become an early test of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s determination to dismantle the institutional legacy of Viktor Orbán.
Sulyok, who was elected president in 2024 with the support of Orbán’s Fidesz party, approved the measure after Hungary’s parliament passed it with the two-thirds majority held by Magyar’s governing Tisza party. Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, the head of state formally approves legislation and can refer laws to the Constitutional Court, giving the position potential importance during a period of rapid political change.
By signing the amendment, Sulyok activated a provision specifically ending his mandate. He said he was constitutionally obliged to promulgate the measure, despite arguing that it weakened legal certainty and raised serious concerns about democratic standards and the rule of law.
The decision followed months of pressure from Magyar, who had repeatedly called on Sulyok to resign voluntarily. The prime minister portrayed the president as a loyal remnant of the Orbán era and accused him of failing to defend constitutional values while the former government concentrated political authority, weakened independent institutions and adopted increasingly confrontational policies toward the European Union.
Sulyok rejected those demands, forcing Magyar’s government to pursue his removal through constitutional change. Parliament approved the amendment on July 13 by 139 votes to six, while Fidesz lawmakers boycotted the session. Magyar had warned that impeachment proceedings could follow if the president refused to sign the legislation within the prescribed period.
The episode marks one of the most dramatic consequences of Hungary’s April election, in which Magyar’s centre-right, pro-European Tisza party defeated Orbán after 16 years in power and secured a parliamentary supermajority. That result gave the new government the authority to rewrite constitutional provisions without opposition support.
Magyar has argued that his mandate extends beyond replacing one administration with another. He has presented his programme as an effort to transform a political system shaped by years of Fidesz control over state media, regulatory bodies, the judiciary and other public institutions. His government has moved swiftly to reverse or restructure several Orbán-era arrangements, while promising a new constitution developed through public consultation and ultimately approved by referendum.
The amendment that removed Sulyok also contains reforms extending well beyond the presidency. It introduces a maximum parliamentary tenure of 12 years and establishes a retirement age of 70 for Constitutional Court judges. That provision is expected to force the departure of court president Péter Polt, another prominent figure associated with the previous political order.
Supporters describe the measures as necessary to break entrenched networks of influence and restore public trust after more than a decade of democratic decline. Magyar has said term limits will prevent the permanent concentration of political power and encourage greater renewal within parliament.
Critics, however, warn that the methods used to dismantle Orbán’s system risk reproducing some of its most controversial characteristics. Hungarian rights organisations have questioned whether changing the constitution to remove an individual officeholder is compatible with the rule of law, even when the government claims a democratic mandate for reform.
Orbán and Fidesz have condemned the amendment as an abuse of Magyar’s supermajority. The former prime minister characterised the removal as tyrannical and argued that using constitutional power against political opponents threatened the safeguards that Magyar claims to be restoring.
That criticism presents the new government with a fundamental dilemma. Magyar came to power promising to reverse years of institutional capture, but many of the bodies he wants to reform are protected by constitutional provisions introduced under Fidesz. Removing Orbán-era officials quickly may require the same kind of overwhelming parliamentary power that previously allowed Fidesz to dominate the state.
The controversy therefore extends beyond Sulyok’s individual future. It concerns the legitimacy of using exceptional political power to rebuild a democratic system—and the difficulty of distinguishing institutional restoration from partisan replacement.
Under the new arrangement, Parliament Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer is expected to serve as interim head of state until lawmakers elect a replacement. Parliament will then choose a new president whose mandate may remain provisional while the government proceeds with plans for a broader constitutional overhaul.
The next appointment will be closely watched for evidence of whether Magyar intends to create a genuinely independent presidency or place a political ally in the office. The answer could influence perceptions of his entire reform programme, both inside Hungary and among European partners eager to see Budapest return to stronger democratic and rule-of-law standards.
Sulyok’s departure closes one chapter of Hungary’s transition but intensifies the debate surrounding the next. His signature removed him from power, yet it also demonstrated the extraordinary reach of the government that replaced Orbán.
Magyar has succeeded in eliminating a potentially resistant figure from the presidency. His greater challenge will be proving that Hungary’s new political era will be governed by stronger institutions rather than simply by a different concentration of authority.
