The Hungarian parliament voted on Monday to dismiss President Tamás Sulyok, the BBC reports. The Tisza party, led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, used its two-thirds majority to pass the 17th amendment to the constitution, ending the terms of both Sulyok and Constitutional Court President Péter Pólt.
Sulyok was considered a loyalist of long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose Fidesz party lost power in April after 16 years in office. Tisza took over the government in early May following a decisive electoral victory on 12 April, and the dismissal of the head of state is the most dramatic move by the new assembly so far. The result of the vote, supported by all 141 Tisza MPs, was met with applause.
Sulyok now has five days to sign the amendment or refer it to the Constitutional Court. If he chooses the court, Magyar has announced the initiation of an impeachment procedure, which would automatically suspend him from office. The third option is resignation, which the new government is urging him to take to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Fidesz MPs walked out of parliament before the vote, accusing Tisza of building a tyranny. The party claims the amendment gives the government arbitrary power to dismiss any public official with immediate effect.
The package of amendments also removes constitutional judges over the age of 70 and bars MPs who have served three terms from standing for re-election, affecting more than half of the current Fidesz MPs. The BBC notes that this is a transitional package of laws intended to remain in force until a new constitution is adopted within two to three years.
Orbán has rarely appeared in public since his electoral defeat and declined to take his parliamentary seat, while on Monday he travelled to the United States for the final of the World Cup. On the same day, Gergely Gulyás, the party's second-in-command, resigned as head of the Fidesz parliamentary group.
