Hungary's ex-president Sulyok signs constitutional amendment to end own term; Fidesz on brink of collapse

Key Developments

• Former President Tamás Sulyok terminates his own mandate by signing the Fundamental Law amendment
• Péter Magyar commits his first serious political mistake
• Fidesz's server infrastructure has been seized by investigators
• The prosecutor general has resigned
• Fidesz may have lost 900,000 voters since the elections

The Tisza government is moving forward at full speed and appears to have dismantled the main puppets of the Viktor Orbán system far more easily than many had anticipated.

Last weekend, the entire country awaited the decision of former President Tamás Sulyok on the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law. In the process of selecting a new president of the republic, Péter Magyar made his biggest mistake to date.

Investigators from the prosecution service seized Fidesz's server infrastructure. Contrary to Fidesz's claims, the law enforcement operation is not political harassment but part of an investigation launched in connection with the National Cultural Fund (NKA) into suspected breach of fiduciary duty.

With the resignation of the prosecutor general on Wednesday (22 July), the dismantling of the Fidesz system has clearly accelerated. According to the latest poll, it cannot be ruled out that Fidesz in its current form will not survive the present political crisis.

President Sulyok Signs His Own Termination Law

On Saturday evening (18 July), President Tamás Sulyok signed the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law, which also terminated his mandate as president of the republic. Since Monday (20 July), he is no longer Hungary's head of state. He announced his decision on his social media page. His powers have been temporarily assumed by Ágnes Forsthoffer, the speaker of parliament.

"After thoroughly weighing my legal options and my conscience, I am fulfilling my obligation laid down in the Fundamental Law. My signature is the final seal of the full respect I have shown for the institution of the president of the republic," Sulyok stated.

He added that respect for the law had defined his entire life, and for him, all power is only conceivable within the framework of the law.

In reality, during his time in office, the former president fully served the interests of Fidesz, which had installed him in the post. He allowed every proposal of the Viktor Orbán government to pass and did not raise his voice even when the most serious child protection scandals broke.

In his reasoning, Sulyok also noted that, vis-à-vis the constitution-amending power, the Fundamental Law does not authorize either the head of state or the Constitutional Court to defend the constitutional order. He cannot even send the proposal for substantive review.

"Under the current Fundamental Law, there is no constitutional instrument available to me against this amendment – which violates constitutional principles but has been adopted by parliament, acting as the constitution-amending power, in the framework of a lawful procedure," Sulyok said.

He faced two options: fulfill his constitutional duty and sign it, or refuse and commit a breach of the law.

"Today the last dam has fallen. Arbitrary rule is no longer a threat, but a reality," Orbán responded to Sulyok's move.

According to the Fidesz parliamentary group, an era of open arbitrary exercise of power has dawned in Hungary, for which they hold Péter Magyar and the Tisza party responsible.

Prime Minister Magyar reacted to the termination of Sulyok's mandate as follows: "It would have been better to reach this point in a more dignified way, through the resignation of the president of the Republic. But the amendment was necessary because the country could not count on the sense of responsibility of the servants of the disgraced Orbán regime."

The Tisza government masterfully lured Sulyok into a trap. He could have preserved a fragment of his dignity had he resigned after the new government was formed. By waiting for the amendment to be adopted, he put himself in a position where he signed a text that his own political community considers unconstitutional and anti-democratic.