Hungary’s parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s nationalist coalition, approved a bill on Wednesday that would make it harder to remove the country’s president from office.
The vote came some four months before elections in the central European country of 9.5 million, with Orban facing an unprecedented challenge as polls show opposition leader Peter Magyar’s TISZA party with a solid lead.
Hungary’s current president is Tamas Sulyok, a former head of the constitutional court who is seen as an ally of Orban. His five-year term expires in 2030.
As head of state, he has mainly ceremonial powers, but he can also veto laws or send them to the constitutional court for review, allowing him to frustrate a government’s agenda.
Previously, Parliament could declare a president unable to perform his duties by a simple majority vote.
But under the new law, the constitutional court will now have to assess whether the president’s dismissal was lawful and will have the power to reject the measure.
The law was passed with 134 votes in favor, 49 against and two abstentions. Any changes now require a two-thirds majority.
The constitutional court is led by former chief prosecutor Peter Polt, an ally of Orban, who was approved by parliament earlier this year for a 12-year term.
“The President of the Republic indicated that he sees a gap in his own legal status that could give rise to potential abuse, and that is why we accepted his observation,” Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas told a regular media briefing on Wednesday.
But opposition party TISZA told independent media Telex that the bill is “further evidence.” Orbán’s government fears that voters will not return it to power in April’s elections.
#Hungary #passes #law #harder #impeach #president