Magyar met with the Hungarian president to give him an ultimatum: If he does not resign, he will change the Constitution
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Monday, after meeting with President Tamas Sulyok, that if he does not resign, the government will initiate legal proceedings to remove him, reports Reuters.
Magyar said he would use his party's two-thirds parliamentary majority to amend the Constitution and other legislation in order to force Sulyok out of office.
Magyar's centre-right Tisza party ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a landslide election victory in April and has pledged to oust several Orban appointees to key public positions over the past 16 years.
Magyar called on Sulyok — elected in early 2024 by lawmakers from Orban's Fidesz party — to resign, accusing him of failing to represent national unity on major issues and serving the interests of Orban and his government. Sulyok refused to resign.
Magyar says he will remove Orban's “puppets” in a month
“I told the president that if he maintains his position and does not resign, I will inform Tisza MPs today about our legislative proposals and we will immediately start the necessary procedures,” Magyar said.
He stated that the legislative process would take about a month and would involve the “removal of all puppets” who participated in the “dismantling of the rule of law and democracy.”
Orban's Fidesz party accused Magyar of issuing an “illegal ultimatum” and said Sulyok was serving his legal term, which runs until 2029, and could not be removed from office.
Sulyok previously held the position of President of the Supreme Court of Hungary, a position to which he was also elected by Fidesz in 2016.
The presidency in Hungary is largely ceremonial, but Sulyok can send laws back to parliament for reconsideration or send them to the Constitutional Court, which could slow or block Magyar's reform agenda.
