Hungary’s Parliament taps András Baka as president as part of Orbán-era purge

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's Parliament elected former Supreme Court chief justice András Baka as president on Tuesday as the country's new government dismantles power structures left behind by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

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

Baka is expected to be sworn in on Aug. 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 Orbán's time in office is necessary to restore democratic norms and institutional integrity that were eroded during his tenure.

Orbán 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 Orbán's four successive governments and said one of the biggest challenges facing Hungary was the deep social and political polarization 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.”

“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 gone to work dismantling what he calls Orbán’s “mafia” by removing numerous political appointees and heads of institutions viewed as having facilitated Orbán’s autocratic government.

The new government has suspended the news service of Hungary’s public television and radio — which Magyar has argued served as a “propaganda factory” for Orbán’s party — and closed Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office, an authority seen by Orbán’s opponents as a tool for intimidating critics and silencing independent media.

It has also made judicial reforms, set up an office aimed at investigating financial abuses under the Orbán government and imposed a 12-year term limit on lawmakers and an 8-year limit for prime ministers.

Baka's election came after 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 the former president to resign after he and Tisza won a landslide election in April. After Sulyok refused, Tisza passed a constitutional amendment ending his term, which Sulyok reluctantly signed in July.

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

Baka brought his removal before the European Court of Human Rights, which found 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 been a visiting professor or lecturer at numerous U.S. universities including the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University.