András Baka is set to become Hungary's next President, helping Prime Minister Péter Magyar turn the page on years of autocracy under Viktor Orbán
BUDAPEST – The Hungarian parliament will hold a secret ballot on Tuesday to elect the jurist András Baka as the nation’s next president.
With the Tisza party’s commanding 71% supermajority, the 73-year-old’s victory is a mere formality. Baka is expected to assume office on 19 August, ahead of the 20 August national holiday, filling the vacuum left by the ousted Tamás Sulyok.
While the government frames the appointment as a return to the rule of law, Baka – whose career is defined by a rigid, often controversial adherence to the letter of the law – presents a complex political paradox for Prime Minister Péter Magyar.
Baka’s appointment is thick with historical irony. In 2011, former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government removed him from the presidency of the Supreme Court through a “one-sentence” constitutional manoeuvre.
