Hungary parliament elects new constitutional judge; Orbán accuses Magyar of 'arbitrary rule'

The Hungarian parliament elects a successor for the first of several constitutional judges who must leave. Ex-Premier Orbán speaks of "arbitrary rule."

Published: 2026-07-27 16:37

Péter Magyar, the Hungarian Prime Minister, continues his "Operation Purgatory" to reverse the Orbán era. One week after the removal of the President of the Republic and three weeks after the suspension of public service news, it is now the judiciary's turn.

In a special session of parliament, Magyar's two-thirds majority elected Pál Sonnevend on Monday afternoon as a successor for the outgoing constitutional judge Csaba Hende. Hende is the first of several constitutional judges who must leave due to Magyar's major constitutional amendment. Magyar accuses the guardians of the constitution of being anything but independent and of being enablers of his predecessor Viktor Orbán.

Hende, who had also served as Defense Minister under Orbán, now has to go because he sat in the Hungarian parliament for Orbán's Fidesz for around 20 years. That is longer than Magyar's constitutional reform allows, which sets a maximum limit of 12 years. Upon reaching this duration, serving as a constitutional judge is no longer possible.

Pál Sonnevend was the preferred candidate of Magyar's ruling Tisza party. The lawyer András Schiffer, nominated by the far-right Mi Hazánk party, has no chance given Tisza's two-thirds majority. During the vote, all Fidesz deputies demonstratively left the chamber.

Maximum Age 70 Years

Further constitutional judges will have to leave in the coming months, among other reasons due to the newly introduced maximum age of 70. For Orbán, who has been rather quiet since his election defeat in April, this is a godsend. Magyar is exercising "arbitrary rule," Orbán said on Saturday before thousands of supporters in the Romanian spa town of Băile Tușnad.

There, he announced the reorganization of his Fidesz party, which is to serve in the future as a rallying point for "national resistance" against the Magyar government. He also wants to make the party more attractive to young people again – how, remained open.

Magyar himself justifies his reform package with the accusation that representatives of the old government shamelessly enriched themselves and established mafia-like structures. As part of the two-day parliamentary session, other campaign promises by Magyar are also being implemented, such as the creation of the National Office for Asset Recovery and Asset Protection. The office is to investigate corruption under Orbán and, as far as possible, reverse it. Magyar promised to fully investigate the Orbán era.

Also to be decided is the abolition of value-added tax on prescription medications starting in September. Orbán did not attend the session from the beginning – he resigned his mandate after his devastating election defeat.

No New Head of State in Sight Yet

Other leading Fidesz figures also stayed away, such as former Infrastructure Minister János Lázár or Máté Kocsis, long-time head of the Fidesz parliamentary group. Most recently, Gergely Gulyás, one of Orbán's closest confidants, held the leadership of the parliamentary group. Last week, he was replaced by János Bóka.

The question of who will become Hungary's President remains open. Currently, the office is filled on an interim basis by the new Speaker of Parliament, Ágnes Forsthoffer. However, a regular successor is expected to be found soon. Tisza's preferred candidate, Judit Polgár, recently declined the office, which was seen as Magyar's first major setback. Possibly the Prime Minister himself was surprised at how quickly the previous President Tamás Sulyok vacated the field. Sulyok had [the constitutional amendment...]