Hungary elects András Baka president in Orban-era purge

Hungary's Parliament elected former Supreme Court chief justice András Baka as president on Tuesday, August 11, as the country's new government continues dismantling power structures left behind by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Lawmakers from the governing Tisza party elected Baka in a secret ballot, with 140 votes for and six against and no abstentions. Orbán's far-right Fidesz party boycotted the vote.

Baka is expected to be sworn in on August 19. The presidency in Hungary is largely ceremonial, though the president has the power to send bills back to lawmakers or to the Constitutional Court for review.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar's government has argued that removing officials appointed during Orbán's tenure is necessary to restore democratic norms and institutional integrity eroded under his rule. Orbán and Fidesz have accused the new government of "tyrannical" policies, a charge Magyar and Tisza deny.

Speaking in Parliament after his election, Baka criticised the performance of Orbán's four successive governments and said one of Hungary's biggest challenges was the deep social and political polarisation built up during the former leader's 16 years in power.

Baka said past legal and financial abuses must be investigated and prosecuted and democratic institutions restored, but added that political change in Hungary should not come through "revenge." "This country cannot build a common future while its citizens see each other as enemies," he said. "Political change should not mean that from now on people will have to be afraid, be silent, or feel like outsiders in their own country."

Since taking office in May, Magyar's administration has worked to dismantle what he calls Orbán's "mafia" by removing numerous political appointees and heads of institutions seen as having facilitated Orbán's autocratic rule.

The government has suspended the news service of Hungary's public television and radio broadcaster which Magyar has called a "propaganda factory" for Orbán's party and shut down Hungary's Sovereignty Protection Office, an authority Orbán's opponents viewed as a tool for intimidating critics and silencing independent media.

It has also carried out judicial reforms, set up an office to investigate financial abuses under the Orbán government, and imposed a 12-year term limit on lawmakers and an eight-year limit for prime ministers.

Baka's election followed weeks of wrangling by Tisza to oust Orbán-era president Tamás Sulyok, who was nominated and confirmed by Orbán's party in 2024. Magyar, who has referred to Sulyok as "Orbán's puppet," had called on him to resign after Tisza's landslide election win in April. When Sulyok refused, Tisza passed a constitutional amendment ending his term, which he reluctantly signed in July.

Baka, 74, served on the European Court of Human Rights from 1991 to 2008. He was Hungary's Supreme Court chief justice from 2009 to 2011 but was removed by Orbán's government three years before his term was due to end.

Baka challenged his removal before the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in 2014 that Orbán's government had violated his rights and that his dismissal was linked to his criticism of the government's judicial reforms.

He has held visiting professorships and lectureships at several US universities, including the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia University.

(Sourced through PTI)