Parliament Elects András Baka President; Fidesz Boycotts Vote

Hungary's parliament elected András Baka, the Tisza party's sole nominee, as president on August 11 in a secret ballot, 140 votes in favor and 6 against, with no abstentions. Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party and its ally KDNP boycotted the vote, calling the removal of predecessor Tamás Sulyok 'tyrannical' and 'illegitimate.' In his first address to lawmakers, the 73-year-old Baka — removed as Supreme Court (Kúria) chief justice by Orbán's government in 2011 and later vindicated by the European Court of Human Rights — said Hungary had developed a system in which 'one party captured the state' and there was no functioning separation of powers or checks and balances. He warned that 'we cannot build the new Hungary on revenge' and said the presidency should be 'politically neutral but not value-neutral,' pledging not to treat signing legislation as a formality or remain silent when constitutional government is at risk. Baka is scheduled to be formally sworn in on August 19, succeeding interim President Ágnes Forsthoffer, who had held the office since Sulyok's July 20 departure.