Hungary’s new government moves to bar Orbán from returning to power through constitutional amendment

Hungary’s new Tisza Party government has submitted a constitutional amendment that would impose an eight-year limit on any prime minister’s tenure — a measure that, applied retroactively as promised, would permanently disqualify former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from ever returning to office.

Tisza lawmakers submitted the amendment Wednesday. Prime Minister Péter Magyar had repeatedly promised during the election campaign to impose a two-term limit and apply it retroactively. The opposition Christian Democratic People’s Party’s parliamentary group leader, Bence Rétvári, argued that “a government confident in its own performance would not need constitutional manoeuvres to sideline a political rival.”

The proposed amendment would also abolish the constitutional foundation of the Sovereignty Protection Office — an institution established under Orbán to investigate foreign influence and defend Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture. Fidesz parliamentary leader Gergely Gulyás said the amendment amounted to “the dismantling of Hungary’s strict migration policy,” warning that scrapping the relevant constitutional clauses could pave the way for Hungary’s acceptance of the EU migration pact.

Gulyás also attacked the government’s decision to allow restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural imports to lapse, accusing Tisza of “governing through Facebook.” Farmers’ organizations warn that low-cost Ukrainian grain, poultry, and eggs could devastate domestic producers already struggling with rising costs and strict EU regulations.

The broader package of measures is widely seen as an effort to appease the European Commission in the hope of unlocking EU funds frozen during Orbán’s tenure, when Budapest repeatedly clashed with Brussels over sovereignty, migration, Ukraine, and LGBT issues.

Using a constitutional amendment to retroactively disqualify a political opponent is not democratic reform — it is the weaponization of constitutional law for political purposes. It is precisely what the Tusk government in Poland has been doing to its conservative opponents.