Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok announced Saturday he has signed a constitutional amendment that terminates his own mandate, bowing to pressure from the new government and averting impeachment proceedings.
The 17th amendment to the constitution, approved by parliament on Monday with 139 votes from the ruling Tisza party, gave the president a five-day deadline to sign or face removal. Sulyok confirmed the signature on social media, ending his term less than two and a half years after he assumed office in March 2024. The measure also imposes term limits on lawmakers, caps the age of Constitutional Court judges at 70, and creates a national asset-recovery office.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who demanded Sulyok's resignation, has called the president a puppet of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. Sulyok is the second consecutive head of state to leave office early after predecessor Katalin Nováková resigned in early 2024.