Orbán can never return as Hungary’s PM, under new Tisza term limits (39 days post-election)
Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip as PM took him to Poland, here pictured with Donald Tusk, where the discussed a ‘reset’ in Budapest-Warsaw relations

EU politics

Orbán can never return as Hungary’s PM, under new Tisza term limits (39 days post-election)

By Veronika Munk,
Budapest
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Our weekly digest of Hungarian politics continues, as we report on developments after April’s historic election and on the formation of the Tisza government. This week we cover the following topics:

  1. Viktor Orbán could be barred from future premierships through a constitutional amendment.
  2. Universities could be taken back from Fidesz-linked foundations in an effort to unlock frozen EU funds.
  3. A reset in Hungarian–Ukrainian relations.
  4. Péter Magyar travels to Poland, to study the Warsaw’s experience in recovering billions of euros currently withheld.
  5. The child protection scandal that triggered the fall of the Fidesz government returns to the political spotlight.

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Tisza government seeks constitutional amendment to prevent Orbán from returning as prime minister

On Wednesday (20 May), the Tisza party submitted its first constitutional amendment proposal, introducing an eight-year limit on serving as prime minister – to apply retroactively. This proposal would permanently prevent Viktor Orbán from serving again as Hungary’s prime minister. Tisza’s two-thirds parliamentary majority gives it constitutional power, meaning it can ultimately push through any amendment it chooses.

“The prime minister shall be elected by the National Assembly upon the proposal of the president of the republic. No person may be elected prime minister if they have already served a total of at least eight years in that office, including non-consecutive terms. For the calculation of this eight-year period, any time served as prime minister on or after 2 May 1990 shall be taken into account,” the proposal states.

Gergely Gulyás, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, along with other Fidesz politicians and pro-government commentators, described the amendment as “Lex Orbán”. In a social media video published on Thursday, Gulyás said that “the possibility of retroactive effect is particularly troubling, because it sends the message that no one is safe if the Fundamental Law can be amended in this way”.

Tisza also seeks to reclaim control of higher education from Fidesz

The government also introduced another major constitutional amendment affecting Hungarian higher education.

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Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip as PM took him to Poland, here pictured with Donald Tusk, where the discussed a ‘reset’ in Budapest-Warsaw relations

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Author Bio

Veronika Munk Veronika Munk is an award-winning Hungarian journalist with more than 20 years of experience. She works as director of innovations and new markets at Denník N, the leading independent Slovak news outlet, which also has Czech and Hungarian language versions. Prior to her current role, Veronika held various senior positions at several other leading Hungarian independent news outlets. She was the founding editor-in-chief of the Hungarian independent online daily news outlet Telex, and before that, she was deputy editor-in-chief at Index, Hungary’s largest online daily news outlet. Veronika has a PhD in media studies and teaches journalism courses at ELTE University, the largest Hungarian university.