Hungary passes constitutional amendment to remove Orbn-era president [View all]

Source: apnews

Hungary’s Parliament voted Monday to pass a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office and make some political reforms aimed at dismantling the political system of autocratic former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

After winning in a landslide election in April, current Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his pro-European, center-right Tisza party hold a two-thirds majority in Parliament, allowing them to make constitutional changes and roll back many of the policies Orbán implemented during his 16 years in power.

The constitutional amendment, which had the stated purpose of “restoring rule-of-law democracy,” passed with 139 votes for and six against in the 199-member Parliament. Tisza lawmakers held a standing ovation after the vote, while lawmakers from Orbán’s far-right Fidesz party boycotted the parliamentary session.

Sulyok needs to sign the amendment within five days for it to become law, and has not said whether he would do so, but Tisza has vowed to launch an impeachment procedure against him if he doesn’t. Magyar has argued that Sulyok failed to live up to his role as president by neglecting to stand in the way of antidemocratic steps by Orbán’s government. Magyar promised repeatedly to remove Sulyok during the election campaign, and points to his party’s big win as a clear mandate from voters to fulfill that promise. Sulyok has resisted Magyar’s calls to resign.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hungary-constitutional-amendment-remove-president-59620a0313e402be3b2cb6db2668f2ee