5 questions about Hungary’s constitutional amendment to remove President Tamas Sulyok

1. What happened?

Hungary’s Parliament voted Monday to pass a constitutional amendment removing President Tamas Sulyok from office, passing 139 votes to six in the 199-member body. The amendment also includes judicial reforms, a new office to investigate financial abuses from the Orban era, and a 12-year term limit on lawmakers.

2. Who is involved?

The vote was led by Prime Minister Peter Magyar and his pro-European, center-right Tisza party, which holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority after an April landslide election. Sulyok, an appointee from former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s era, is the target of the amendment, while Orban’s far-right Fidesz party boycotted the session in protest.

3. Why does this matter?

Magyar argues Sulyok failed to check antidemocratic actions taken during Orban’s 16 years in power and says his party’s election win gives him a mandate to remove him. Although largely ceremonial, the presidency carries real power to sign legislation and refer bills to the Constitutional Court, and Magyar’s supporters worried Sulyok could use that authority to block their reform agenda.

4. What happens next?

Sulyok has five days to sign the amendment into law and has not said whether he will; if he refuses, Tisza has vowed to launch an impeachment procedure against him. If he is removed, Parliament would then elect a new president.

5. What is the broader context?

The amendment is part of a wider effort by Magyar’s government, in office since May, to dismantle what he calls Orban’s “mafia” system, including removing political appointees, suspending state television’s news service, and closing the Sovereignty Protection Office. Fidesz has called the amendment an “unprecedented” assault on democracy and organized protests, including a candlelight vigil outside Parliament on the evening of the vote.

For more on this report, read “Hungary passes constitutional amendment to remove Orban-era president” from The Associated Press, published on The Washington Times.