Hungary PM proposes amendment of constitution to remove President

Budapest, June 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Hungary's Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, on Monday spoke about the failures of President Tamas Sulyok and proposed amending the constitution to allow his removal, potentially paving the way for direct elections, a report stated.

While addressing a press conference outside the Sandor Palace on Monday, Magyar said, "Just as Viktor Orban has abandoned the Hungarian people, so Tamas Sulyok, whom he appointed, has abandoned the Hungarian republic," Euro News reported.

"The office of the president of the republic is more important and more powerful than any individual head of state. It is in Hungary's interest that the presidency should regain the authority that has been battered in recent years by its silences, its untenable decisions and its omissions," he said.

Magyar said that he has informed the President Sulyok that if he continues to remain on the post and does not resign on his own, he will inform the Tisza Members of Parliament (MPs) about his decision and will immediately start the necessary procedures.

He made the remarks after his meeting with Tamas Sulyok. Magyar did not reveal the kind of constitutional amendment that the government is seeking to do. However, he did mention that it would not be a tailor-made law directed at one person but a framework that would also enable other state leaders to be removed from office, Euro News reported.

Hungary's PM said he would want people of the country to have a greater voice in electing the president. Magyar said, "The Fundamental Law is crystal clear: the president of the republic embodies the unity of the nation and safeguards the democratic functioning of the state," before mentioning in detail on how Sulyok has failed to live up to that role.

He noted that Sulyok did not issue any statement when Hungary's former PM Viktor Orban spoke about bugs, a big clean-up and a shadow army. Magyar said that when he asked President Sulyok about Orban's remarks, he was told that they were only a political opinion and there was no need for him to speak on the issue.

Earlier in May, leader of Hungary's Tisza Party, Peter Magyar, was sworn in as Hungary's PM after he secured win in the parliamentary vote at the inaugural session of the new National Assembly. As many as 195 lawmakers out of 199 MPs cast votes, with 140 in favour, 54 against and one abstention, Xinhua News Agency reported.

In his inaugural speech, Magyar said that the new government received the mandate not only to change the government but also to "change the system." He vowed to serve Hungary instead to "rule over it", highlighting reconciliation, democratic renewal and national unit.

Source: IANS