Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok has signed the 17th amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law, confirming that his own presidential mandate will end the day after the legislation is officially published in the Hungarian Gazette.
Sulyok announced the decision on his Facebook page on Saturday. The amendment, adopted by Parliament earlier this week, forms part of the new Tisza government’s sweeping constitutional reforms following its landslide election victory.
President’s term ends immediately after publication
Sulyok was elected president in March 2024 after the resignation of Katalin Novák and was originally expected to remain in office until March 2029.
However, the constitutional amendment abolishes his current mandate. Once the signed legislation is published in the Hungarian Gazette, his presidency will officially end the following day.
Until a successor takes office, Speaker of Parliament Ágnes Forsthoffer will temporarily assume the powers and responsibilities of the head of state, while one of the deputy speakers will carry out her parliamentary duties.
Parliament must elect a new president within 30 days
Under Hungary’s constitution, Parliament must elect a new president by secret ballot within 30 days.
Any Hungarian citizen aged at least 35 can become president, provided they receive nominations from at least one-fifth of MPs (40 members). Besides the governing Tisza Party, only the 44-member Fidesz parliamentary group has enough MPs to nominate a candidate independently.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar has previously said his government intends to nominate a figure capable of representing national unity and attracting support beyond the governing majority. No candidate has yet been announced.
Magyar has also indicated that the current constitutional amendment is intended as a temporary solution, with the government planning to introduce an entirely new constitution—expected to be confirmed by referendum—which could eventually introduce the direct election of Hungary’s president.
Wide-ranging constitutional reforms
The 17th amendment introduces several significant institutional changes alongside the presidency. Among the most notable measures are:
- Constitutional Court judges will again face a maximum age limit of 70, meaning the mandates of Péter Polt and three other judges over that age will end within two months.
- Constitutional Court judges will once again elect their own president.
- Constitutional Court judges’ terms will be reduced from 12 years to nine years.
- The presidents of the National Office for the Judiciary (OBH) and the Supreme Court (Kúria) will serve six-year non-renewable terms, while judges will receive greater influence over their appointment and dismissal.
- Parliamentary MPs will face a 12-year term limit, preventing anyone who has already served three parliamentary terms from standing in the next election.
- The number of laws requiring a two-thirds parliamentary majority will be reduced.
- The constitutional basis will be created for establishing a National Office for Asset Recovery and Protection.
- From 1 October, Hungary’s administrative counties will officially be called “counties” again instead of the current “vármegye” designation.
- The Budget Council’s veto power will be abolished.
- The Parliamentary Guard will be dissolved.
- The Constitutional Court will regain powers to review certain budgetary and taxation matters that had been removed in 2011.
UPDATE: Orbán reacts
“Today, the last barrier has fallen. Arbitrary rule is no longer a threat, but a reality. If this could be done to the President of the Republic, then no one is safe anymore. God save Hungary!” former PM and Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán wrote in his Facebook post.
UPDATE 2.0: Magyar’s reaction
Tamás Sulyok signed the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law a few minutes ago; consequently, his mandate as President of the Republic will end at midnight on 20 July, said Prime Minister Péter Magyar in a Facebook video.
According to the PM, it would have been better had Tamás Sulyok left office sooner.
“It would have been better to reach this point in a more dignified manner—through the President’s own judgment, acceptance of responsibility, and resignation. Yet these amendments were necessary because Hungary could not—and cannot—rely on the judgment or the shared sense of responsibility toward the homeland of those who served the fallen Orbán regime,” he stated.
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At least Sulyok went out doing the right thing with his last act as president. That removes a huge potential obstacle to reform of the country by the Tisza government. Fidesz is truly finished. We will likely see more resignations of Fidesz MPs. For many of them their primary reason for going into politics was to use government office to extract financial benefits for themselves. This financial benefit becomes non-existent when they sit in opposition. They have no personal gain by serving Hungary in opposition for the next four long years. The whole party may therefore disintegrate revealing what it was – a corrupt organization of kleptocrats. Every idiot Fidesz ideologue will have to wake up and answer to themselves why these people who were self-described “Patriots” broke their promise to serve the people and instead ran away.