BUDAPEST: Hungary's parliament was set to approve a constitutional amendment on Monday to oust President Tamas Sulyok, who Prime Minister Peter Magyar says is a "puppet" of former premier Viktor Orban. The legislation is part of Magyar's drive to dismantle Orban's bastions of power, for which he says he received a strong mandate from voters.
Magyar's centre-right Tisza Party ended the 16-year rule of Orban's nationalist Fidesz party with a landslide election victory in April. "It would be a betrayal of the Hungarian nation if we did not touch this constitution," Magyar told parliament ahead of the parliamentary vote on the amendment. "They (Fidesz) arranged the country in such a way that one man's will became the source of legislative work... The Tisza Party won a clear, huge two-thirds mandate to dismantle this system."
The amendment would end Sulyok's term immediately, citing society's "serious loss of confidence" in him. Parliament would elect a new president until a new constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years. Magyar said that in the autumn, a "huge joint project" with the Hungarian people would begin to draft a new constitution. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
