Hungary scrambles for presidential candidate after chess legend Polgár declines nomination
Hungary faces a presidential vacancy after chess grandmaster Judit Polgár declined the government's nomination to replace ousted President Tamás Sulyok. Sulyok's mandate expired on July 20 under a constitutional amendment pushed by the ruling Tisza party, which critics say dismantled democratic checks. House Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer serves as interim president. Polgár, who became the world's youngest grandmaster at 15, declined after meeting Prime Minister Péter Magyar, citing inability to unite a divided nation. The Tisza party plans to inaugurate a new president by August 20, with opera singer and MP Andrea Rost emerging as a potential candidate. Opposition parties and Fidesz have attacked the selection process as opaque and autocratic, accusing Magyar of bypassing promised social consultation. The political crisis underscores deep divisions in Hungary's post-Orbán transition.
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