Hungary Elects New President as Fidesz Fails to Field Candidate

Andras Baka has been elected Hungary’s new president by the National Assembly in a secret ballot, securing 140 votes from Tisza party lawmakers.

Parliamentary Election Procedure

According to Hungary’s political system, the president of the country is elected by a two-thirds qualified majority in the unicameral parliament, known as the National Assembly. Tuesday’s secret ballot in Budapest on August 11 concluded without surprise, involving 146 of the 199 deputies. Among them, 140 parliamentarians voted in favor of Baka’s election, surpassing the 134 required for the Tisza candidate to win. Deputies had 40 minutes to cast their ballots into the urn, followed by 20 minutes for counting.

Background of Andras Baka

Baka is the former president of the Hungarian Supreme Court and a former judge at the European Court of Human Rights. Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced his nomination over the weekend on behalf of the Tisza parliamentarians.

Nomination Details and Fidesz Boycott

Hungarian Prime Minister wrote on Facebook that 140 MPs from the Tisza party officially nominated Andras Baka for president in writing, while Fidesz failed to find a candidate and the Mi Hazank party managed to gather only six signatures instead of the required 40. In reality, Orban’s party boycotted the election, claiming that the removal of the previous president Tamas Sulyok—who had been elected by the Fidesz-led parliament—was unlawful. Sulyok himself signed the constitutional amendment under which he left office on July 20. Following the expiration of Sulyok’s mandate, parliamentary speaker Agnes Forsthoffer temporarily assumed the duties of the head of state, and under the Fundamental Law, the Hungarian parliament had 30 days to elect a new head of state.