Hungary votes to impeach President Sulyok, a loyalist of Orbán

The Hungarian parliament on Monday adopted a constitutional amendment ending the mandate of President Tamás Sulyok, considered a loyalist of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in the April elections after sixteen years in power.

Monday was the most tumultuous day in the Hungarian parliament since the new government took office in early May. Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party used its two-thirds majority to pass the 17th amendment to the constitution, which ends Tamás Sulyok's term as president and Péter Polt's term as head of the Constitutional Court. The 141 Tisza deputies greeted the vote with a standing ovation.

Sulyok now has five days to sign the amendment or refer it to the Constitutional Court. If the president chooses the latter, Magyar has warned that he will initiate impeachment proceedings against him, which would automatically lead to his suspension. The new government is instead urging him to resign to avoid a constitutional crisis.

The legislative package goes further than just removing the president: it also provides for the removal of constitutional judges over the age of 70, and prohibits deputies who have served three terms from running again, a provision that affects more than half of the current Fidesz elected officials.

Fidesz MPs, now in opposition, walked out of the chamber before the vote, accusing Tisza of establishing a tyranny. Orbán's party argues that the amendment grants the government the arbitrary power to dismiss any senior official with immediate effect.

“The great irony of the situation is that Fidesz is a victim of its own concept of power,” said Péter Rona, a former opposition presidential candidate. The 2011 constitution, drafted under Orbán, enshrined the principle that “the winner takes all.” From 2010 to 2026, Fidesz reshaped the Hungarian state to suit its own purposes, placing party loyalists in officially independent positions, relying on its own two-thirds majority.

András Baka, former president of the Supreme Court, has expressed support for the president's impeachment. "Hungary was governed by the rule of law from 1989 to 2010. After that, Fidesz seized control of the institutions and created an authoritarian state. It is now very difficult to dismantle a sophisticated authoritarian regime, designed to survive even after an electoral defeat," he explained. However, he expressed reservations about the clause limiting the right to run for re-election, arguing that it restricts citizens' freedom to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Since its defeat on April 12, Fidesz has been in freefall. Orbán himself has kept a very low profile, refusing to attend parliamentary sessions. On Monday, he left Hungary to attend the World Cup finals in the United States. Within the party, anger is mounting over his absence. Gergely Gulyás, Fidesz's number two, resigned on Monday from the chairmanship of the parliamentary group, further exacerbating the party's difficulties.