Hungary's parliament has passed a constitutional amendment capping prime ministerial terms at eight years, effectively barring former leader Viktor Orbán from ever returning to the country's top office. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the measure on Monday, with 150 votes for and 50 against, with six abstentions. The change, one of the first major reforms introduced by new Prime Minister Péter Magyar, was a central campaign promise of his Tisza party, which won a landslide victory in April's elections, ending Orbán's 16 consecutive years in power.

The amendment applies retroactively to all prime ministerial service since Hungary's democratisation on 2 May 1990. That provision is particularly significant in Orbán's case: in addition to his 16 years of uninterrupted rule from 2010 to 2025, he also served a term between 1998 and 2002, bringing his total to roughly 20 years — far beyond the new eight-year ceiling. Orbán's Fidesz party, which voted against the amendment, has branded it the