HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO REMOVE PRESIDENT SULYOK

Hungarian parliament voted to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office on Monday. Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party, which holds a two-thirds majority, passed the 17th constitutional amendment to end Sulyok's term and remove Constitutional Court head Péter Polt. The vote marked the most significant parliamentary action since Magyar's government took office in early May following an election victory against former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party on 12 April. Sulyok has five days to sign the amendment or refer it to the Constitutional Court.

Sulyok was widely regarded as a loyalist of Orbán, who governed Hungary from 2010 until his electoral defeat. If Sulyok refers the matter to the Constitutional Court, Magyar stated he would initiate impeachment proceedings against him, which would automatically suspend him from office. The new government has urged Sulyok to resign to avoid constitutional crisis. Deputies from the now-opposition Fidesz party walked out of parliament before the vote, contending that the amendment grants the government arbitrary power to dismiss public officials immediately. The amendment also removes Constitutional Court judges over 70 years of age and bars deputies who have completed three parliamentary terms from standing again, affecting more than half of current Fidesz deputies.

The 141 Tisza deputies gave a standing ovation when results were announced. András Baka, former head of Hungary's Supreme Court, told the BBC he supported the president's removal, stating that Hungary operated under rule of law from 1989 to 2010 before Fidesz reshaped state institutions. Fidesz argues the amendment represents the establishment of tyranny by the new government, claiming it mirrors the same concentration of power the party exercised during its 16-year tenure.