Daijiworld Media Network – Budapest

Budapest, Jul 19: Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok on Saturday signed a constitutional amendment ending his term in office, bringing to a close a standoff with the country's new government, which has been seeking to remove officials appointed during the rule of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar, whose pro-European, centre-right Tisza party defeated Orban in a landslide election in April, had repeatedly urged Sulyok to resign, alleging that the Orban-appointed president had failed to uphold his constitutional role by not resisting what he described as the former government's anti-democratic measures.

After Sulyok refused to step down, lawmakers from the Tisza party passed a constitutional amendment earlier this week calling for the immediate termination of his term. The president had five days to sign the legislation and did so on the final day before the deadline.

In a video posted on Facebook, Sulyok, whom Magyar had frequently described as Orban's "puppet", said being compelled to sign the amendment was "lasting proof that the fundamental values of a free society, the rule of law, democracy, the principle of power-sharing, have been trampled on in the interest of power."

Sulyok's term will officially end at midnight on Monday. Parliament Speaker Agnes Forsthoffer will assume the duties of president until lawmakers elect a successor within the constitutionally mandated 30-day period.

Since taking office in May, Magyar's administration has moved swiftly to dismantle what it describes as Orban's entrenched political network by removing several political appointees and heads of institutions accused of enabling the former government's authoritarian rule.

The government has also suspended the news service of Hungary's public television and radio, which Magyar alleged had functioned as a "propaganda factory" for Orban's party, and abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office, an authority criticised by opponents as a tool to intimidate critics and suppress independent media.

The constitutional amendment that ended Sulyok's tenure also introduced judicial reforms, created an office to investigate alleged financial abuses during the Orban administration and imposed a 12-year term limit on lawmakers.

Responding to the development, Orban wrote on Facebook that "tyranny is no longer a threat, but a reality."

"If this could be done to the president of the republic, then tomorrow no one will be safe," he said.

In a separate video statement, Magyar defended the move, saying, "We have fulfilled several of our important commitments and returned what the Orban regime tried to take away from the Hungarian people for many years."

He added that he would convene a meeting of his party on Monday to discuss its nominee for the presidency.