Tisza Forces Hungary President Out With Law Rewrite

Two-thirds control of Hungary’s parliament has now done what months of political pressure did not: it has forced Tamás Sulyok out of the presidency through a constitutional amendment.

Hungary’s president agreed to stand down after signing the amendment passed by prime minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party, according to Guardian World. The measure ends Sulyok’s term immediately, citing society’s “serious loss of confidence” in a president elected in early 2024 by lawmakers from former prime minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party.

Tamás Sulyok signs the 17th amendment that ends his term

Sulyok, a former constitutional court judge and Orbán ally, said he had no choice but to sign the legislation because it respected the letter of the law. But he used his statement to accuse Magyar’s government of damaging Hungary’s constitutional order.

“The seventeenth amendment to the constitution has marked a watershed in Hungary’s constitutional democracy.”

He added:

“By removing public office holders in a manner that openly violates the rule of law … it sets a negative precedent that inflicts a deep wound on the constitutional values of democracy, the separation of powers and the rule of law.”

The BBC reported that Sulyok had five days to sign the amendment or face the risk of a prolonged constitutional crisis and impeachment proceedings. His presidency is set to end at midnight on Sunday, with parliament speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer due to become interim president from Monday, according to Magyar’s Facebook post cited by the Guardian.

The amendment is the sharpest institutional move yet by Magyar’s government since Tisza’s election win in April. Guardian World described it as part of Magyar’s drive to dismantle Orbán’s “bastions of power” after the former rightwing leader was ousted in an election landslide.

Tisza’s two-thirds majority turns political pressure into constitutional force

The removal of Tamás Sulyok cuts short the tenure of a president chosen under the previous Fidesz-dominated order. That is the core political significance. Magyar’s government is not waiting for personnel changes to arrive through routine turnover. It is using the constitutional authority it has in parliament.

Tisza has a two-thirds majority, which allows it to change any laws, the Guardian reported. The BBC said 141 Tisza deputies gave a standing ovation after the amendment passed on Monday.

Orbán attacked the reform on Facebook.

“Tyranny is no longer a threat but reality. If this could be done to the president, tomorrow, no one will be safe.”

Magyar framed the same move as democratic repair. After Sulyok signed the amendment, he said:

“With these decisions, we are restoring something that the Orbán regime spent many years trying to take away from the Hungarian people.”

He added:

“The certainty that power can be constrained, that public assets can be recovered and that the state can once again serve its citizens, frees Hungarian citizens.”

Analysis: The clash is not over whether Tisza has the votes. The sources show it does. The conflict is over legitimacy: Sulyok and Orbán call the method an assault on rule of law, while Magyar presents it as a correction to institutions shaped during Orbán’s 16 years in power.

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A wider purge reaches judges, lawmakers and Orbán-era holdovers

The amendment does more than remove Hungary’s president. It also imposes a 12-year term limit on lawmakers and sets a retirement age of 70 for constitutional court judges, Reuters reported via the Guardian.

That retirement rule could reshape the court’s senior ranks by requiring affected judges over the age threshold to leave office. The package therefore reaches beyond Sulyok and into the judiciary and parliament itself.

The BBC quoted András Baka, former head of Hungary’s Supreme Court, saying after the vote:

“I quite agree with the removal of the president.”

Baka argued that Fidesz had captured state institutions after 2010 and built an authoritarian state. He told the BBC:

“And it is now very difficult to break up a sophisticated authoritarian regime... which was designed to survive even after electoral defeat.”

That comment captures the strongest pro-Tisza case in the source material: Hungary’s new government is treating institutional turnover as necessary because Orbán’s party filled key posts while in power. The strongest criticism, from Sulyok himself, is that even a corrective action can set a damaging precedent if it removes officeholders by constitutional force.

Parliament now chooses the next president under Magyar’s rules

Parliament will elect a new president who will serve until a new constitution takes effect or for a maximum of five years, the Guardian reported. That makes the next vote the immediate test of how Tisza uses the authority it has just asserted.

The key near-term facts are clear:

• Exit timing: Sulyok’s presidency ends at midnight on Sunday, according to the BBC.
• Interim handoff: Ágnes Forsthoffer is set to assume the role from Monday, according to Magyar’s post cited by the Guardian.
• Succession process: Parliament will elect the next president.
• Institutional reach: The same amendment affects lawmakers’ tenure and constitutional court judges’ retirement age.

What remains unresolved is who Tisza will back for president, whether Fidesz escalates its political response after Orbán’s Facebook attack, and how Sulyok’s warning about precedent shapes the debate around Magyar’s next constitutional moves.

Analysis: Magyar’s government has won the immediate fight. The harder test starts now. If the next president is presented as a broad constitutional reset, Tisza can argue it is breaking with the Orbán era. If the process looks like rapid replacement by another loyalist, Sulyok’s warning about a “negative precedent” will hang over the new administration from its first week.

Impact Analysis

• The amendment removes a president elected under Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, accelerating Tisza’s effort to reshape Hungary’s institutions.
• Sulyok’s resignation raises concerns about constitutional precedent and the separation of powers.
• The transition puts parliament speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer in the presidency on an interim basis, adding uncertainty to Hungary’s political reset.