HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS ORBAN CRITIC BAKA AS PRESIDENT

Hungarian lawmakers approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka as the country's next president on Tuesday, following the removal of his Orban-aligned predecessor. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, elected Baka with 140 votes in favour and six votes against. Baka, 73, served 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights before his dismissal during Viktor Orban's 16 years in power. Prime Minister Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party won April elections ending Orban's rule, nominated Baka on Saturday for the largely ceremonial role.

Magyar said Baka's life exemplified "commitment to the democratic rule of law and constitutional principles" and that Hungary needed to be "guided back onto the path of the rule of law and constitutional governance". The presidency became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, Tamas Sulyok, whose mandate was cut short by constitutional amendment. Rights watchdogs criticised Sulyok's removal, comparing the method to tactics Orban used to build what he termed his "illiberal" system. Orban's Fidesz party and its ally KDNP boycotted the parliamentary vote, calling Sulyok's ouster "tyrannical" and "illegitimate".

Baka has characterised Hungary under Orban as a "captured state" where officials were appointed to ensure political survival rather than restrain government power. His election as president was described by analysts as offering "a guarantee that the restoration of liberal democracy will proceed along a clearly defined path". The appointment forms part of Magyar's broader effort to dismantle Orban's influence over state institutions following the electoral defeat that ended nearly two decades of nationalist governance.