English
Hungary’s Parliament will vote for a new president on Tuesday, August 11, but no candidates have been nominated yet. A change of head of state was one of the promises made by Prime Minister Peter Magyar after his Tisza party won the April elections, and he moved quickly to amend the Constitution and to remove from office President Tamas Sulyok, accusing him of being close to former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Magyar then offered the post of president to chess legend and former world champion Judit Polgár, who declined, citing the deep political divisions in Hungary. The Prime Minister’s handling of the nomination has been criticized by lawmakers and NGOs who claim that, contrary to his earlier promise, there was no real public consultation on the appointment of the head of state, writes Brussels’ Euronews.
Magyar responded that Tisza had only asked for recommendations, that she had not initiated “consultations with the broader society” and that the final choice was up to his party’s parliamentary group and Parliament. In a post on social media last month, Magyar invited parties, public figures, civil society and others to submit proposals for the presidency.
The Presidency in Hungary is largely ceremonial and is temporarily held by the Speaker of Parliament, Agnes Forsthofer. According to Euronews, several NGOs and parties have proposed candidates for the presidency, and Magyar has met with numerous individuals and other potential candidates. Among them are law professor and former president of the Curia (Supreme Court) Andras Baca, historian Ignak Romsic and lawyer Botond Filep.
Now in opposition, Orban’s Fidesz party announced that it would not participate in the presidential election and claimed that the removal of Sulyok was “illegitimate.”