There is currently no constitutional or legal reason for me to resign,” President Tamás Sulyok said in an interview published on index.hu on Monday, in response to Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s call on the head of state and other public officials to resign by May 31.
President Tamás Sulyok unfit, unworthy, says PM Péter Magyar
“I have sworn an oath to uphold the Fundamental Law and defend the constitutional order, and this oath binds me to the majority, the minority, and the entire political nation alike. I understand that there are social and political intentions aimed at redefining the powers of the president, but there is no constitutional basis for my resignation. I will remain faithful to my oath, and as long as the exercise of my office is not rendered impossible, I intend to fulfil the mandate I have undertaken,” Sulyok said.
Put to him that Magyar called him unfit or unworthy to be the guardian of the rule of law in Hungary, he said: “The categories of unfitness and unworthiness are not included in the Hungarian constitution. These are political value judgments … it is not my business to deal with political opinions. The constitution does not recognise such categories.“
President Tamás Sulyok insisted that Magyar’s inaugural address as prime minister had been the first sign that “a political reinterpretation of the constitutional status and powers of the president of the republic” had begun. “In certain cases, it may be a legitimate political demand and aspiration to rethink a constitutional institution that has essentially operated in an unchanged form for 36 years.”
“I have now found myself in the crosshairs of this intent to reinterpret: through my person, the very institution of the presidency,” he said.
While he understood the “new political expectations“, he said they did not alter his legal status. “That said, it is still true that if there is indeed a strong political demand to redefine the role of the President of the Republic, then sooner or later this must also be reflected in the law.”
Regime change occurred in 1990
Asked whether he saw Tisza Party’s victory as a simple change of government or a genuine regime change, Sulyok said the regime change occurred in 1990, when the country dismantled the one-party communist dictatorship. “Since then, a democratic constitutional state has been operating in accordance with our constitution, and governments change — or do not change — in parliamentary elections, depending on the results. Now a change of government has taken place,” he said.
President Tamás Sulyok stated that he had held “candid and objective” discussions with Magyar before the inaugural session of the new parliament and before the appointment of the ministers.
When asked whether, as head of state, he would not have had the leeway and authority to take a more proactive role in the matter of child protection, Sulyok said the role of the president had compelled him to “remain aloof from party-political disputes forming over professional issues.”
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Magyar government to be in compliance with EU standards, rule of law
The president “must intervene only if a systemic disruption arises in the functioning of the democratic institutional system. In these matters, however, the authorities have done their work, so the president cannot interfere in ongoing proceedings,” he said, adding that the head of state is to speak out only in exceptional cases, particularly during election campaigns.
Commenting on the government’s intention to remove him from office, he said: “Based on statements by Justice Minister Márta Görög, I assume that they are considering solutions that comply with the rule of law, European, and international constitutional standards.”
Asked about the official photos published by MTI of the inauguration of Agriculture Minister Szabolcs Bóna, from which he had been cropped out to only show Magyar and Bóna, President Tamás Sulyok said: “I don’t usually concern myself with whether I’m in a photo or not.”
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Featured image: Facebook/Tamás Sulyok
