The Hungarian parliament voted on Monday to dismiss President Tamás Sulyák, the BBC reports. The Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, used its two-thirds majority to pass the 17th amendment to the constitution, which ends the terms of President Sulyák and the President of the Constitutional Court, Péter Polt.
Sulyák was considered a loyalist to long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose Fidesz party lost power in April after 16 years. Tisza took office in May, following a decisive victory on 12 April, and the dismissal of the head of state was the most dramatic move by the new assembly so far. The result of the vote by all 141 of Tisza's MPs was greeted with applause.
Sulyák now has five days to sign the amendment or refer it to the Constitutional Court. Should he choose to refer it, Magyar has warned that a recall procedure would be initiated, which would automatically suspend him from office. The third option is resignation, to which the new government is urging him, to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Members of Fidesz left the parliament before the vote, accusing Tisza of building a tyranny. The party claims that the amendment gives the government arbitrary power to dismiss any public official at short notice.
The package of amendments also removes constitutional judges over the age of 70 and bars those who have served three terms from standing again, affecting more than half of the current MPs in the Fidesz party. The BBC notes that this is a transitional package of laws which is intended to remain in force until a new constitution is adopted in two to three years.
Orbán has rarely appeared in public since the election defeat and has declined to take up his parliamentary seat, while on Monday he travelled to the United States for the final of the World Cup. On the same day, Gergely Győr, a second figure in the party, resigned from his position as head of the Fidesz parliamentary group.
