Hungary’s Parliament voted on the date of 2026-07-13 to approve a constitutional amendment designed to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office, marking a major step in Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s effort to reshape institutions left from Viktor Orbán’s long period in power.
The measure, described by its backers as intended to restore rule-of-law democracy, passed in the 199-member legislature by 139 votes to six. Magyar’s pro-European, center-right Tisza party holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority after a landslide election victory in April, giving it the votes needed to change the constitution. Tisza lawmakers applauded after the result, while members of Orbán’s far-right Fidesz party boycotted the session.
The amendment’s central provision would remove Sulyok, an appointee from the Orbán era, from the presidency. Parliament would then choose a replacement. The package also includes judicial changes, creates an office to investigate financial abuses under Orbán’s government and imposes a 12-year term limit on lawmakers.
Sulyok has five days to sign the amendment for it to become law. He has not said whether he will do so. Tisza has said it will begin impeachment proceedings if he refuses. Although Hungary’s presidency is largely ceremonial, the office signs legislation and can refer parliamentary bills to the Constitutional Court, powers that have made Sulyok a point of concern for supporters of the new government.
Magyar has argued that Sulyok did not meet the expectations of the presidency because he failed to block what Magyar characterizes as antidemocratic measures under Orbán. During the election campaign, Magyar repeatedly pledged to remove Sulyok and has presented Tisza’s election result as a mandate to follow through. Sulyok has resisted calls to resign.
After the vote, Magyar told reporters that his government had begun transforming the legal system built during Orbán’s tenure. He said the result closed an era and reflected a clear mandate from Hungarian voters.
Fidesz sharply rejected the amendment. The party has called the changes an unprecedented attack on Hungary’s democratic order, and before the vote its caucus leader, Gergely Gulyás, said the package would damage the legal system, weaken rule of law and restrict democracy. Gulyás also said he would step down as caucus leader because the 12-year term limit would prevent him from serving in Parliament after the next national election.
Opposition to the amendment has also appeared outside Parliament. Fidesz held a protest the previous week that drew about 3,000 people, though Orbán did not attend. Supporters of the party called for a candlelight vigil outside the Parliament building on the evening of the vote to demonstrate against what they described as tyranny by Magyar’s government.
Since taking office in May, Magyar’s government has moved quickly against institutions and appointees associated with Orbán. It suspended the news service of Hungary’s public television and radio and closed the Sovereignty Protection Office, which Orbán’s opponents viewed as a means of pressuring critics and independent media.
