Péter Magyar Threatens Constitutional Amendment to Remove President Tamás Sulyok After Refusal to Resign

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said his government would amend the constitution to remove President Tamás Sulyok after Sulyok refused to resign.

Magyar and his Tisza party won an overwhelming victory in an election in April, giving them a two-thirds majority in parliament to make sweeping changes to the political system Viktor Orbán built over his 16 years in power.

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Magyar repeatedly called on Sulyok, whom he referred to as "Orbán's puppet," and gave Sulyok a May 31 deadline to leave office.

While the presidency is mostly ceremonial, the president is responsible for signing legislation into law and can send bills passed by parliament to the constitutional court for review, raising concerns among supporters of the new government that Sulyok could obstruct their plans.

Magyar held talks with Sulyok at the presidential Sándor Palace on Monday morning, and later said the president had refused to resign.

After talks in Budapest, Magyar told journalists that "necessary procedures" would be launched following the expiry of his deadline for Sulyok to step down.

Magyar accused Sulyok of failing to represent national unity required by the constitution and said Sulyok could obstruct the new government's agenda.

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Magyar also said he would instruct lawmakers from his party to immediately begin the "necessary procedures" to remove the president, a process he said would take around a month.

Gergely Gulyás, the caucus leader of Orbán's Fidesz party, said in a video posted on Facebook that "in a constitutional democracy, it is not conceivable that a president is forcibly removed ... before his term of office ends."

Sulyok’s office released a statement saying Magyar’s calls for the president to resign "adversely affect both the constitutional functioning and the authority of the institution of the President of the Republic."

The dispute is unfolding as the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was prepared to unblock up to €16.4 billion in frozen funding if the new government continues to deliver on crucial reforms.

“Hungary’s Magyar to amend the constitution to remove President Tamás Sulyok BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s government will amend the constitution to remove the country’s president, part of a push by the new Prime Minister Péter Magyar to eliminate officials appointed under former populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán”

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The cash flow had been frozen due to what the bloc saw as democratic backsliding and rule of law violations under Orbán, according to DW’s account of the EU funding freeze.

Magyar said the legislative process would take roughly a month and would involve "removing all the puppets" who had been involved in "dismantling the rule of law and democracy."

Poland’s TVP World reported that Magyar said if the president does not resign, the government will launch legal proceedings to remove him from office, and that the presidency can refer laws back to parliament or forward legislation to the Constitutional Court.

The Print reported that Magyar set a May 31 deadline for Sulyok’s resignation, and that Sulyok ruled out resigning on Sunday citing allegiance to local and European constitutional norms that required him to stay on.