Hungary’s Magyar to amend the constitution to remove President Tamas Sulyok 

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has promised to amend the constitution to remove the president and other officials appointed under populist former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Magyar on Monday called President Tamas Sulyok Orban’s “puppet” and said he should resign from the position, but the president has repeatedly rejected the prime minister’s requests that he stand down.

Magyar and his Tizsa party won an overwhelming victory in elections in April. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, they can make sweeping changes to the political system Orban built over his 16 years in power.

Magyar had given Sulyok a deadline of this past Sunday to leave office or face being removed by constitutional means.

While holding a mostly ceremonial role, Hungary’s president is responsible for signing legislation into law and has the power to send bills passed by parliament to the Constitutional Court for review, raising concerns among supporters of the new government that he could use that power to obstruct its plans.

Magyar held talks with Sulyok at the presidential Sandor Palace on Monday morning.

Later at a news conference, Magyar said the president had refused to resign.

“I have told the President that if he maintains his stance and does not resign, I will inform …the lawmakers of Tisza about our legislative proposals today and we will ⁠immediately start the necessary procedures,” Magyar said.

He said ⁠the legislative process would take about a month and would involve “removing all the puppets” who took part in “dismantling the rule of law and democracy.”

“Hungary does not belong to Tamas Sulyok nor to Viktor Orban. It doesn’t belong to a single party or political system,” Magyar said.

“The constitution states quite clearly that the president showcases the unity of the nation and guards the democratic functioning of the state.”

The prime minister did not give specifics on what kind of constitutional change would be used to remove Sulyok.

Magyar accused Sulyok of failing to perform his duty on a number of issues, including failing to speak out when Orban made dehumanising statements about his political opponents and critics or when the previous government passed legislation banning an LGBTQ pride event.

“It is in Hungary’s interest that this institution – the office of the president – regain the prestige that has been eroded by its silence and inaction,” Magyar said.

On Friday, Sulyok’s office released a statement that said 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 statement added that Sulyok had requested a legal assessment of the conflict from the Venice Commission, a group of legal experts with Europe’s top human rights group and part of the Council of Europe.