President Tamás Sulyok of Hungary signed into law on Saturday a constitutional amendment that ends his term of office at midnight on Sunday, after the parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party, gave him five days to act or face impeachment. The speaker of parliament, Ágnes Forsthoffer, will assume the role of interim head of state until lawmakers elect a new president within 30 days. Sulyok, a former constitutional court judge elected in 2024 with votes from Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, said in a video message that he had no legal means to challenge the amendment, which he described as a violation of the rule of law, democracy and the separation of powers.

In Budapest, the government of Prime Minister Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April on a promise of “regime change” after 16 years of Orbán’s rule, has framed the amendment as a necessary step to remove officials it considers loyal to the previous administration. Magyar has repeatedly called Sulyok a “puppet” of Orbán and argued that the president failed to block anti-democratic measures during the Fidesz era. Orbán, speaking from the United States, responded by declaring that “tyranny is no longer a threat, but a reality” and that “the last barrier has fallen.” His Fidesz party, now in opposition, denounced the constitutional change as “autocratic,” while the international rights group Human Rights Watch said the procedure was “reminiscent of the Fidesz era.”

The amendment’s provisions extend well beyond the presidency. It imposes a mandatory retirement age of 70 for Constitutional Court judges, a measure that will force out the court’s president, Péter Polt, seen as an Orbán ally. It also restores the court’s power to review budget laws, introduces a 12-year term limit for members of parliament, and creates a new National Asset Recovery and Protection Office with broad powers to investigate financial abuses. Magyar’s government has presented these changes as the restoration of checks and balances, asserting that they return to citizens “the certainty that power can be limited, that public assets can be recovered, and that the state can once again serve its citizens.”

Magyar’s Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority in parliament, enabling it to amend the constitution without opposition support. Since taking office in May, the government has suspended the public broadcaster’s news service, which it called a “propaganda factory,” and shuttered the Sovereignty Protection Office, a body critics said was used to intimidate Orbán’s opponents. The constitutional amendment is presented as a transitional measure ahead of a planned new constitution, to be drafted after a year-long public consultation. The immediate next step is the election of a new president, for which Magyar has invited proposals from parties, civil society and individuals, while the interim presidency ensures continuity of state functions.