Hungary’s Parliament elects Andras Baka as president as part of Orban-era purge

Hungary’s Parliament elected former Supreme Court chief justice Andras Baka as president as the country’s new Government dismantles power structures left behind by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

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

Baka is expected to be sworn in on August 19. The role of president in Hungary is largely ceremonial, though the president does have the power to send bills back to lawmakers or to the Constitutional Court for review. Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s Government has argued that the purge of officials appointed during Orban’s time in office is necessary to restore democratic norms and institutional integrity that were eroded during his tenure.

Orban and Fidesz have accused the new Government of “tyrannical” policies, which Magyar and Tisza deny. In comments in Parliament following his election, Baka criticized the performance of Orban’s four successive Governments and said one of the biggest challenges facing Hungary was the deep social and political polarisation during the former leader’s 16 years in power.

Baka added that while past legal and financial abuses must be investigated and prosecuted and democratic institutions restored, political change in Hungary should not come through “revenge.”