Several thousand supporters of Viktor Orbán's far-right Fidesz party gathered outside the ornate Sándor Palace in Budapest's Castle District on Thursday evening, protesting plans by Hungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, to remove the country's president through a constitutional amendment. The demonstration, organised by Fidesz and promoted vigorously by Orbán on social media — though he did not attend — was titled "Stop Tyranny" and reflects the deepening political confrontation between the new government and its ousted predecessor.

The constitutional amendment at the centre of the dispute, set for a parliamentary vote on 14 July, contains blunt language: "The president's mandate ends as soon as this law enters into force." Magyar, who defeated Orbán in a landslide election in April after 16 years of Fidesz rule, has justified the move by citing a "serious loss of public trust" in President Tamás Sulyok, whom he describes as a "puppet" of the former prime minister. Sulyok, an Orbán-era appointee, holds a largely ceremonial role but retains the power to send legislation to the constitutional court — a tool Magyar's supporters fear could be used to obstruct the new government's reform agenda. Magyar made removing Sulyok a central campaign promise and points to his party's two-thirds parliamentary majority as a clear electoral mandate to act.

Critics, however, argue that Magyar is bypassing the constitutional procedure that already exists for removing a president — namely, demonstrating a failure to fulfil presidential duties — and is instead opting for a blunt legislative shortcut. Amnesty International Hungary has stated that "the president should be entitled to due process." A second proposed amendment has deepened concerns: it would bar members of parliament from serving more than twelve years, and because the measure is retroactive, roughly three-quarters of current Fidesz lawmakers would be ineligible to stand in future elections. Fidesz MEP and former European affairs minister János Bóka called this a red line crossed, asking: "If a party can prevent its opposition from running in the next elections, what kind of democracy are we living in?"

Magyar and his supporters counter that Fidesz itself amended Hungary's self-authored 2011 constitution fifteen times while in power, and that dismantling what he calls Orbán's "mafia state" requires swift, decisive action. Since taking office in May, his government has suspended Hungary's pro-Orbán public broadcaster, introduced an eight-year term limit for prime ministers, removed intelligence agency heads appointed under Orbán, and unlocked some €16.4 billion in previously frozen European Union funds by rolling back democratic backsliding. The competing claims — each side accusing the other of threatening democratic norms — underscore why Hungary's political transition is being watched closely across Europe: the methods used to undo authoritarian consolidation are themselves becoming a test of democratic legitimacy.