Hungary's parliament has approved the 17th amendment to the country's constitution, paving the way for the removal of President Tamás Sulyok and allowing lawmakers to appoint an interim head of state until a new constitution takes effect.
The amendment passed with 139 votes in favor and six against, while 54 lawmakers did not participate. Under the new provisions, Sulyok's mandate will end the day after the amendment enters into force. Parliament will then elect a new president to serve until Hungary adopts a new constitution, with the interim term capped at five years.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar described the constitutional changes as a necessary step toward dismantling what he called the political system established under Viktor Orbán and Fidesz. Addressing parliament before the vote, he argued that leaving the current constitution untouched would amount to "a betrayal of the Hungarian nation," calling the Fidesz-written Basic Law "the founding document of the Hungarian Cosa Nostra built by Fidesz-KDNP."
According to Magyar, the Orbán era subordinated state institutions to the interests of a single political leader. He accused former chief prosecutor Péter Polt of failing to investigate the disappearance of hundreds of billions of forints from Hungary's central bank and argued that key constitutional institutions repeatedly failed to fulfill their responsibilities.
