Tisza Nominates Former Supreme Court Chief András Baka for President

Hungary's ruling Tisza party nominated 73-year-old András Baka, former president of Hungary's Supreme Court (Kúria) and a onetime ECtHR judge, as its candidate for the presidency on August 8, PM Péter Magyar announced. Orbán's government removed Baka as Supreme Court chief in 2011, three years before his term was due to end; the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2014 that his dismissal — triggered by his public criticism of judicial reforms — breached his free-expression rights and damaged judicial independence in Hungary. Tisza lawmakers said Baka had 'consistently stood up for the rule of law and judicial independence.' As the sole nominee backed by Tisza's two-thirds majority, Baka secured the 140 parliamentary signatures required to qualify by August 10, becoming the only valid candidate ahead of the parliamentary vote scheduled for August 11 — the first presidential election since Sulyok's July 20 departure. The far-right Our Homeland Movement made a symbolic nomination of Máté Tóth, but the party lacks sufficient seats for a valid candidacy.