In Hungary, the ruling ‘Tisa’ party finalised its candidate for the post of the country’s new president on 8 August. “Tisa” is putting forward András Baka, a lawyer, former President of the Hungarian Supreme Court and former President of the National Judicial Council, for the post.
On Saturday evening, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar wrote on Facebook that he had met with Baku in person and that Baku had accepted the offer to stand for the presidency.
A vote in the National Assembly to confirm the nomination will take place on 11 August. For the candidate to be confirmed, at least two-thirds of MPs must vote in favour. Given that 141 of the 199 seats in parliament are held by Fidesz MPs, Baka’s victory is all but assured. In his Facebook post, Magyar has already referred to him as ‘Mr President’.
András Baka is a lawyer and judge who served at the European Court of Human Rights from 1991 to 2008. In 2009, he was appointed President of the Hungarian Supreme Court for a six-year term; however, during the constitutional reform of 2011, this post was abolished and his term was terminated early in 2012. Baka claimed that this was due to his public criticism of the judicial reforms introduced by Viktor Orbán’s government. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Baka’s rights to freedom of expression and to the defence of his rights in court had been violated, and that the new reform had been adopted specifically to remove Baka from office as a critic of Orbán.
In Hungary, the president is formally the head of state, although political decisions are taken by the government, led by the prime minister. The president’s role is largely ceremonial, although he has the power to initiate bills, sign or veto laws, and dissolve the National Assembly.
Speaking about candidates for the post of future president, Péter Magyar emphasised that it should be someone who commands the respect and authority of Hungarian citizens across the political spectrum.
In July, Magyar proposed chess player Judit Polgár as a candidate for the presidency, but she declined, stating that she did not feel ready to ‘take on the historic responsibility of uniting the nation’.
Earlier that same month, Hungarian President Tamás Szujok had signed the constitutional amendments passed by parliament, which provided for the early termination of his term of office.