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Orban barred by amendment
Hungary’s parliament on Monday adopted a constitutional amendment introducing retroactive term limits that would prevent former Prime Minister Viktor Orban from returning to office, with the change passed by the ruling Tisza party’s supermajority with 135 votes in favour.
“Hungarian members of parliament have passed a constitutional amendment limiting prime ministerial terms to eight years”
The amendment limits prime ministers to two four-year terms and applies to all terms served since May 1990, disqualifying Orban, who governed Hungary for a combined 20 years.
Opposition parties Fidesz and KDNP voted against the measure, while the far-right Mi Hazánk abstained, as Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party ended 16 years of uninterrupted Fidesz rule.
Reacting to the vote, Orban dismissed the move, saying, “The idea that anyone in Hungary – for example, me – could be kept away from the people is pretty funny,” and adding, “In the end, it’s the people who decide.”
Vote totals and legal path
Hungarian MPs voted overwhelmingly to limit prime ministerial terms to eight years in a constitutional change that blocks the return of nationalist Viktor Orban, who ruled for 16 years, with the amendment passed easily in parliament where Magyar’s Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority.
Insider Paper put the vote at 135 votes for, 50 against and six abstentions, and said the measure can be passed by a two-thirds majority without needing a referendum under Hungarian law.
The amendment also removed a provision stipulating the need for an independent body to “safeguard” the country’s “constitutional identity,” a step described as paving the way to disband the Sovereignty Protection Office.
Orban, who was reelected as leader of his Fidesz party over the weekend, posted on Facebook: “The Orban law has been passed. That was the most pressing issue… If I’m needed, I’ll be here,” as the parliament set to vote on a bill for the agency’s dissolution at the end of June.
EU ties and office scrapped
The constitutional overhaul also dissolves the Sovereignty Protection Office and the 34 public interest asset management foundations (KEKVA), which currently control major state assets including 21 universities, with KEKVA holdings to be reclassified as national wealth.
“Ga naar de hoofdinhoud”
Interior Minister Gábor Pósfai confirmed at a committee hearing before the vote that Budapest would continue to reject the bloc’s migration pact, saying Hungary “does not plan to submit one in the future,” while providing only voluntary bilateral technical assistance.
Al Jazeera said the reform effectively prevents former longtime leader Viktor Orban from a potential return to power, and reported that one hundred and fifty MPs voted for the amendment while 50 were against and six abstained.
It also said the vote paved the way for other reforms including the disbandment of the Sovereignty Protection Office, created to protect Hungary from “foreign influence,” and that MPs are expected to vote on a bill to dissolve the agency at the end of this month.
