- Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok refuses to resign and plans to finish his mandate.
- Magyar called on all high officials of the Orbán era to resign by the end of May.
- Sulyok claims that there is no legal or constitutional reason for his departure.
Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok clearly declared in an interview for the index.hu server that he will not resign from his position and that he intends to fulfill his mandate and oath. Prime Minister Péter Magyar called the president a “puppet” and a “remnant of the Orbán regime.” The prime minister gave the head of state, as well as other high-ranking officials from the Orbán era, a deadline for voluntary resignation. They have until May 31 to do soinforms the correspondent of TASR in Budapest.
In a wide-ranging interview published on Monday, Sulyok emphasized that he considers holding the post of president to be the greatest possible honor for a Hungarian and noted that he does not regret any of his decisions in retrospect.
According to his words, the president already expresses the unity of the nation by his very existence and also by placing political actions in the constitutional framework, in which he must represent both the majority and the minority, while the degree of party support is a political issue.
Sulyok perceives a strong political demand for a new interpretation of the presidential function, but he considers trust in the head of state to be a political category that, according to him, cannot be directly applied in relation to the parliament or the government.
The president also responded to Magyar’s ultimatum, which called for his resignation. Sulyok emphasized that there is no legal or constitutional reason for such a step, and he will only resign if the performance of his office would be completely impossible.
He refused to comment on the criticism from the Prime Minister, explaining that the Constitution does not recognize the “categories of incompetence and unworthiness”, which Magyar reproached him for several times. In the context of the current political situation, he said that there was only a change of government in the country, and not some kind of regime change, as interpreted by the new prime minister and his Tisza party. In connection with possible constitutional changes, Sulyok drew attention to the importance of observing the principles of the rule of law and European values.
After the publication of the interview with Sulyok, the prime minister again strongly called on the president to resign from his position. “Mr. President, you must go! And you leave. You can do so voluntarily until May 31,” the prime minister said.
According to Magyar, Sulyok lied in the interview about the fact that he was not sure whether he would keep his position. During their first meeting, he indicated that he was considering resigning, while during the second meeting he already asked him if it would not be appropriate for him to consult with the Minister of Justice about his resignation. “It is clear that since our last meeting, the mafia boss (Orbán) has ordered him to stay,” Magyar added.
The then President of the Constitutional Court, Sulyok, was elected President by the National Assembly on February 26, 2024. In a secret vote, it was decided by the votes of the Fidesz-KDNP bloc deputies. 134 deputies voted for, five were against. Parliamentary factions Democratic Coalition (DK), Jobbik, Momentum, Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and Párbeszéd (Dialog) left the meeting hall before the vote.
Sulyok’s predecessor, Katalin Nováková, resigned from her post after less than two years in office on February 10, 2024, in connection with the case of amnesty for Endre K., who was convicted of concealing sexual abuse in a children’s home in Bicske. Her abdication was accepted by the Hungarian parliament with 196 votes of all the deputies present.
