Hungary Parliament Elects Former Supreme Court Head Andras Baka as President

Hungary’s parliament elected Andras Baka, a former head of the Supreme Court, as the country’s next president on August 11, 2026. Baka, a known critic of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was appointed by the governing center-right Tisza party as part of Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s efforts to dismantle the power structures established under the Orban administration, according to Reuters and DW.

The vote proceeded largely along party lines, with 140 lawmakers voting in favor and six voting against, DW reported. The Tisza party holds 141 seats in the chamber. Members of the opposition Fidesz party, which holds 52 seats, boycotted the election in protest, though Reuters noted the boycott could not prevent the appointment.

Baka replaces Tamas Sulyok, a president appointed by Viktor Orban. According to DW, Sulyok’s term was shortened through a constitutional amendment to facilitate his removal from the ceremonial role. While Fidesz and its nationalist KDNP allies described the move as “tyrannical” and “illegitimate,” Prime Minister Magyar argued the action was necessary to pursue a “system change” following his landslide victory in April’s general elections, DW reported.

In a speech delivered after taking the oath of office, Baka criticized the previous government’s impact on Hungarian governance. He stated that under Orban’s rule, “one party captured the state,” and that the country lacked a functioning system of checks and balances and separate branches of power, according to Reuters.

Baka noted that the process of building a new future for Hungary “demands both justice and self-restraint,” and asserted that the president must represent citizens with differing views, Reuters reported.

Judicial background of Andras Baka

Baka is a 73-year-old jurist and politician who served as a member of parliament from 1990 to 1991, according to DW. He spent nearly 20 years as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) before returning to Hungary in 2009 to lead the Supreme Court.

His tenure at the Supreme Court ended in December 2011 when he was removed from his role three years before his term expired, DW reported. This removal occurred shortly after Viktor Orban returned to power as prime minister. Prime Minister Magyar described Baka’s career as an “example of commitment to the democratic rule of law and constitutional principles,” stating that Hungary must be “guided back onto the path of the rule of law and constitutional governance,” according to DW.

Speaking to the AFP news agency last month, Baka said that while such extraordinary measures cannot be used in a country governed by the rule of law, Hungary had become a “captured state under Orban,” according to DW.

Baka further claimed that officials like Sulyok were appointed not to restrain government power, but to ensure the “political survival of the former system even after an electoral defeat,” DW reported.

Political transition and presidential selection

The appointment of Baka follows a period of deliberation by Prime Minister Magyar regarding the profile of the next president. According to DW, Magyar initially considered appointing Judit Polgar, a chess superstar, to the role. Polgar declined the possibility, stating she did not feel she had the “strength to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation,” though she pledged to support an independent president, DW reported.

The use of a two-thirds parliamentary majority to amend the constitution and remove Sulyok has drawn criticism from rights watchdogs. DW reported that some observers have likened the removal of Sulyok to the “illiberal” practices previously employed during the Orban era.

The move is viewed by Reuters as a symbolic step in Magyar’s broader strategy to dismantle the bastions of power left behind by the former premier.