Hungary MPs to vote on ousting Orban-allied president

Hungarian lawmakers are to vote Monday on changing the constitution to oust the president, as Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen the grip of nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban on the country.

Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April on the promise of "regime change" from Orban's 16-year rule, has accused unpopular President Tamas Sulyok and other top state officials of being his predecessor's "puppets".

His push to remove Sulyok comes as the pro-European conservative rushes to undo the concentration of power that marked Orban's self-styled "illiberal" premiership, which won praise from US President Donald Trump but was widely viewed as corrupt.

Orban's Fidesz party is boycotting Monday's parliamentary session, denouncing Magyar's proposed 12-point amendment as "autocratic" -- a charge often levelled against the former leader during his tenure.

But rights watchdogs have also criticized the changes.

Amnesty International said Sulyok was "entitled to due process", while Human Rights Watch said the tinkering was "reminiscent of (the) Fidesz era".

However jurist Andras Baka, a former head of Hungary's supreme court, said the method would be justified if it leads towards a new constitutional order.

"In a country governed by the rule of law such extraordinary measures cannot be used, but Hungary became a captured state under Orban" said Baka, whose mandate was cut short in 2011 with a similar legislative act after he expressed concerns about Fidesz's judicial reforms.

State officials like the president "were appointed not to restrain the government's power, but to ensure the political survival of the former system  even after an electoral defeat", he told AFP.

As his Tisza party enjoys a two-thirds majority in parliament, Magyar does not need the opposition's support to rewrite the constitution.

Voting is scheduled to take place at 6:15 pm (1615 GMT) if there are no delays.

- 67 percent want Sulyok gone -

Since winning the election, Magyar has repeatedly called on Sulyok to resign, branding the 70-year-old unworthy of the post.

The president has insisted there is no reason for him to step down, arguing that Magyar's demands are "incomprehensible" and the proposed changes undemocratic.

If the amendment passes and the president fails to sign it within five days, Magyar said Tisza would initiate impeachment proceedings in parliament.

He again accused Sulyok on Monday of planning to attempt to stall the changes by referring the matter to the constitutional court.

While Hungary's president has mainly ceremonial powers, Sulyok can veto laws or send them to the constitutional court for review -- but not block a constitutional amendment.

According to a May poll by the 21 Research Center, 67 percent of Hungarian voters want him out.

A former head of the constitutional court, he was not well known when he was elected by parliament for a five-year term in 2024.

The proposed amendment also includes a 12-year or three-term limit on lawmakers, which would prevent several prominent opposition politicians from running for re-election.

Fidesz lawmaker Gergely Gulyas resigned as party leader in parliament in protest, as under the proposed rules he could not stand in 2030.

The move would also restore the constitutional court's power to review budgetary acts and reintroduce a mandatory retirement age of 70 for its judges, reversing a 2013 amendment passed under Orban.

Four sitting members on the 15-strong tribunal older than 70 would be forced out, including the head of the court, Peter Polt, seen as an Orban ally.

The amendment also calls for a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, granting it sweeping powers to combat corruption -- which watchdogs saw as endemic under Magyar's predecessor.