Hungary to elect new president as Tisza nominates Andras Baka

Hungary’s parliament prepares to elect a new head of state as the Tisza party officially nominates former Supreme Court President Andras Baka, while Fidesz boycotts the vote.

Tisza Party Nominates Andras Baka

“On behalf of the Tisza faction, I submitted a written application to nominate Dr. Andras Baka for president, bearing the signatures of 140 of my fellow MPs,” wrote Andrea Bujdoso, head of the Tisza faction, on her Facebook profile.

“This is more than just a formal step necessary to submit a candidacy. It is a joint and clear decision: we want Hungary to be headed by a president whose professional authority, independence and many years of experience in the field of public law constitute a solid foundation for the upcoming term,” stated the representative of the ruling party.

Under the petition published on the parliament’s website, all members of the Tisza faction signed, except for National Assembly Speaker Agnes Forsthoffer, who is temporarily acting as head of state.

The Tisza parliamentary group decided on Saturday to put forward the candidacy of Baka, the former President of the Supreme Court, for the office of head of state. After the vote, faction leaders Peter Magyar and Andrea Bujdoso personally informed Baka of the decision, and he accepted the proposal.

“140 MPs from the Tisza party submitted the written candidacy of Andras Baka for president. Fidesz failed to find a candidate, and the Mi Hazank party only managed to collect six signatures instead of the required 40,” wrote the Prime Minister of Hungary on Facebook.

Fidesz Boycotts the Presidential Election

The camp of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced earlier that it would not participate in the election of the new president because they consider the dismissal of Tamas Sulyok to be unlawful.

“We will not participate in this nomination and election farce, which is turning into a soap opera. The Fidesz faction will not take part in the nomination process or the vote itself. The last legitimate president of Hungary is Tamas Sulyok,” declared Janos Boka, head of the parliamentary faction of the largest opposition party in Hungary, Fidesz.

Legal Framework and Parliamentary Numbers

According to the Fundamental Law of Hungary, submitting a candidacy requires the support of at least one-fifth of all members of parliament, which is 40 MPs.

At the end of July, the opposition party Mi Hazank announced that it would nominate Mate Toth, a lawyer specializing in energy law, for the position, despite the fact that its six-member parliamentary faction cannot nominate a candidate on its own.

The President of Hungary is elected in a secret ballot by at least two-thirds of the members of parliament and can take office on the eighth day after the announcement of the voting results. Tisza holds 141 out of 199 mandates in parliament.

Under the constitution, parliament must elect a new president within 30 days of the expiration of Sulyok’s mandate, which occurred on July 20. The National Assembly adopted a constitutional amendment on July 13 providing, among other things, for the removal from office of the president elected by Fidesz votes. The amendment was signed by Sulyok himself, and the duties of the head of state were temporarily taken over by the speaker of parliament.