Hungary Elected a New President. His Term is Expected to be Short

The position of President of Hungary primarily holds representative powers. However, Baka's election is considered politically significant. His term will be temporary – it is expected to last until the adoption of a new constitution for the country, which the authorities plan to draft to replace the basic law adopted during Viktor Orbán's rule.

Former President Tamás Sulyok resigned in July after the introduction of relevant constitutional amendments. Sulyok was a political ally of Orbán, and Péter Magyar seeks to weaken his predecessor's influence on state institutions.

Magyar's party won the April elections, ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule. The new government declared a course towards a so-called 'system change' and the return of Hungary to the principles of the rule of law and constitutional governance.

Magyar, introducing András Baka, stated that Baka's life and professional activities serve as an example of fidelity to democratic principles and the rule of law. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the country needs to return to a system where state institutions operate in accordance with the law.

András Baka himself has extensive legal experience but almost no political background. In 1990, he briefly served as a Member of Parliament for the conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum, but he did not hold political office after that.

From 1991 to 2008, Baka was a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In 2009, he was appointed President of the Supreme Court of Hungary.

However, under the Orbán government, Baka quickly came into conflict with the authorities. In 2012, he was prematurely dismissed from his position after criticizing the government's plans to lower the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 62. Baka called this initiative a 'judicial purge'.

The reduction of the retirement age for judges was criticized by the European Union and the United States. In 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Baka's dismissal violated his right to freedom of expression.

Now Baka himself is criticizing the system established under Orbán. He argues that under a true rule of law, extraordinary measures against state institutions are unacceptable, and Hungary, under the previous government, transformed into a 'captured state'. According to him, some state officials were appointed not to restrain the government's power, but to preserve the old political system even after its defeat in the elections.

Magyar had previously proposed the well-known Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgár for the presidency. However, she declined the offer after the Prime Minister was criticized for not holding promised public consultations before selecting a candidate.

The new president is expected to serve only for a limited time. Magyar's government plans to completely revise the constitution that was in effect during Orbán's time and to develop a new basic law with broad public participation. According to the Prime Minister's assessment, this process could take about a year to a year and a half. The authorities expect to begin public consultations in September.

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