Hungary's parliament has voted to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office, passing a 17th constitutional amendment that terminates his mandate in a single sentence. The move, driven by Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party using its two-thirds parliamentary supermajority, marks the most significant political rupture in Hungary since the new government took office in early May following its landslide victory over Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party on 12 April.

Sulyok, a former president of the Constitutional Court appointed by Orbán after the resignation of his predecessor over a presidential pardon scandal, now faces a stark choice: sign the amendment — effectively his own political dismissal — within five days, refer it to the Constitutional Court for review, or resign voluntarily. Magyar has made clear that if Sulyok refers the matter to the court, he will launch impeachment proceedings, which would suspend the president from office automatically. Hungary's presidency is largely ceremonial, though the president does hold the power to veto legislation or refer laws to the Constitutional Court — but cannot veto constitutional amendments.

The amendment is part of a broader legislative package that also removes Constitutional Court judges over the age of 70 — including the court's Orbán-aligned president — and introduces a 12-year, three-term limit for members of parliament, a measure that would bar more than half of the current Fidesz parliamentary group from standing in future elections. Fidesz deputies, now reduced to just 52 seats in the 199-seat parliament, boycotted Monday's vote and accused Tisza of building a tyranny. Parliamentary group leader Gergely Gulyás, once one of Orbán's closest allies, resigned his leadership post the same day, deepening the sense of crisis within the former ruling party. Orbán himself was notably absent, flying to the United States to attend the FIFA World Cup semifinals and final.

The move has drawn both support and criticism. Legal scholars and pro-democracy advocates broadly endorse the removal of Orbán loyalists from key institutions, arguing that Hungary's state was systematically captured during Fidesz's 16 years in power and that a credible democratic transition requires replacing them.