Hungarian President Tamas Süleok announced on Saturday that he would sign a constitutional amendment immediately ending his term in office, an act that was later confirmed by Prime Minister Peter Magyar.
“I am fulfilling my obligation under the Fundamental Law,” said Suleok, a longtime ally of Hungary’s nationalist former Prime Minister Viktor Orban. [Hungary’s constitution] “After carefully considering my legal options and my conscience.”
The amendment, passed on Monday by Magyar’s ruling Tisza party, is part of a concerted effort to rid the EU member state of the last vestiges of Orban’s far-right political machine after voters ousted Orban and his Fidesz party from office in April elections.
Until now, Suliok has strongly resisted calls from Magyar and his pro-EU party to step down on the grounds that voters have lost confidence in him as well as accusing him of hindering progress on matters of national interest.
On Saturday, Suliok said he had no choice but to sign the law, which he criticized as “setting a negative precedent that deeply wounds the constitutional values of democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law” – all issues that Brussels heavily criticized and even sanctioned Hungary for while Orbán and Fidesz were in power.
Magyar and his centre-right Tisza won a landslide victory in April, securing a two-thirds parliamentary majority on a promise to bring “regime change” to Hungary after 16 years of Fidesz rule.
Is Hungary’s Magyar carrying out ‘regime change’ or copying Orbán?
Tamas Suliok’s term will officially end at midnight on Sunday, at which time Agnes Forsthofer, the current speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, will step in to serve in his place until the body elects a replacement for a maximum five-year term.
A new President is going to be elected within the next 30 days.
Among other things, the new amendment sets 12-year term limits for all MPs and establishes mandatory retirement at age 70 for judges of Hungary’s Constitutional Court – a change that would oust Orbán and Peter Polt from the position of president of the court.
As Suliok accused Magyar and Tisza of suppressing “the fundamental values of a free society”, Orbán added, “Tyranny is no longer a threat… but a reality.”
The Magyars themselves welcomed the news of Suliok’s final departure, saying, “The last obstacle to giving effect to our joint decisions has been removed.”
“With these decisions,” he added, “we are restoring what the Orbán regime tried to take away for many years… the certainty that power can be limited, that public assets can be recovered, and that the state can once again serve its citizens.”
Despite the fact that corruption was widely seen as endemic during Orbán’s rule in Hungary, not all of his critics welcomed the new law, with, for example, Human Rights Watch calling it “reminiscent of the Fidesz era”.
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Edited by: Shawn Sinico