Tamás Sulyok has signed the seventeenth amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law, a move that brings his own mandate as president of the republic to an end.
In a speech posted on Facebook, the head of state described the constitutional amendment forcing his resignation as unprecedented and shameful.
"With a single sentence this amendment terminates the mandate of the sitting President of the Republic. That sentence joins the ranks of those forced Gordian-knot fixes that will remain for posterity as grave and shameful historical examples of abuse of political power," he said.
The outgoing head of state sharply criticised the law that compelled his departure, calling it an open attack on the rule of law and the independence of institutions and an unprecedented restriction of suffrage. At the same time, he acknowledged that refusing to sign the amendment would itself be unlawful, and therefore he signed it.
"My signature is the final seal of my presidential obligations and of my full and unconditional respect for the institution of the presidency. It is a sign that I have always observed Hungary’s Fundamental Law and never violated it. Yet it will also stand as lasting proof that the core values of a free society – the rule of law, democracy and the principle of the separation of powers – have been trampled underfoot for reasons of power. The exclusive responsibility for this decision lies with the power that amended the constitution," the departing Sulyok said.
