Hungary’s ruling party nominates former Supreme Court head Baka as president

BUDAPEST - Hungary’s ruling Tisza party nominated Andras Baka, a former head of the Supreme Court, as the country’s next president, the party’s parliamentary group said on Facebook on Aug 8.

Baka is expected to be elected to the largely ceremonial position by Parliament on Aug 11.

The move is a symbolic step in Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s attempt to dismantle former premier Viktor Orban’s bastions of power, for which Magyar says he received a strong mandate from voters in April elections which his party won by a landslide.

Tisza lawmakers said Baka had always “attached paramount importance to the principle of the separation of powers, consistently standing up for the rule of law and judicial independence”.

“We are convinced that Dr Andras Baka’s experience and the professional independence he has demonstrated throughout his career represent a significant asset at a time when we are preparing to jointly lay the foundations for Hungary’s new constitutional order,” they added.

Magyar’s election victory ended Orban’s 16-year rule.

He has vowed to restore democratic standards and has called on key officials appointed or elected by Orban’s party to resign.

Removing former president Tamas Sulyok was a key goal of Magyar, who called him a “puppet” of Orban. Sulyok signed the constitutional amendment passed by Magyar’s ruling party that ended his own presidency in July.

The amendment says the new president would stay in office until a new Constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years.

Baka, a former judge on the European Court of Human Rights, was removed from his position as the head of the Supreme Court by Orban’s government in 2011, three years before the end of his mandate.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2014 that Hungary had sacked Baka for criticism of the government and that his removal did damage to democratic freedoms in Hungary. Orban’s government rejected those allegations.

Under Hungary’s current Constitution, the president is a largely ceremonial head of state with only limited powers to veto legislation or have it reviewed.

The opposition Fidesz party said it would not participate in the process of electing the president, and accused Tisza of authoritarian policies, allegations which Tisza denied. REUTERS