Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok has signed constitutional amendments that will remove him from office, allowing sweeping political reforms to take effect and averting impeachment after days of hesitation.
Sulyok, a political ally of former prime minister Viktor Orbán, announced that he would sign the amendments, clearing the way for them to come into force.
Parliament approved the constitutional changes on Monday. Prime Minister Péter Magyar then gave the head of state five days to sign them or face impeachment proceedings.
Until a new president is chosen, parliamentary speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer will assume the president’s powers. Under Hungarian law, parliament must elect a new head of state within 30 days.
Magyar confirmed that Sulyok had countersigned the amendments, meaning the constitutional changes can now take effect.
The amendments pave the way for far-reaching political reforms.
In a Facebook post, Magyar said the decisions would return to Hungarians something that Orbán’s regime had tried for years to take away.
“With these decisions, we are giving the Hungarian people back something that Orbán’s regime has been trying for years to strip away: the certainty that power is limited, that common property can be reclaimed, and that the state can once again serve its citizens, the free citizens of Hungary,” he wrote.
