Key facts
- Hungary's ruling Tisza party nominated former Supreme Court President András Baka for the country's next president.
- Baka previously served as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights and headed the Supreme Court.
- Parliament is scheduled to vote on Baka's candidacy next Tuesday.
- Prime Minister Péter Magyar's Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament, making Baka's election a formality.
- The nomination is seen as a symbolic move by Magyar to dismantle the power structures of former Premier Viktor Orbán.
BUDAPEST, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Tisza party has nominated András Baka, a former head of the Supreme Court, to become the country's next president. The party's parliamentary group announced the nomination on Facebook on Saturday.
Baka is expected to be elected to the largely ceremonial position next Tuesday. This move is seen as a symbolic step by Prime Minister Péter Magyar to dismantle the power strongholds established by former Premier Viktor Orbán, with Magyar asserting he has received a strong mandate from voters to enact this political shift.
Parliament is set to vote on Baka's candidacy next Tuesday. Tisza, which won a general election in the spring, enjoys a two-thirds majority in the chamber, making Baka’s election to the largely representative post a formality. The nomination comes after former President Tamás Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment that removed him from office last month, bowing to months of public pressure from Magyar. The new prime minister had called for Sulyok’s resignation following Tisza’s landslide election victory that ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar had previously stated he met with András Baka, describing him as one of Hungary's most respected experts on European law and constitutional affairs. Baka, 73, previously served two terms as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights and continued as a senior judge at the Supreme Court after 2011. A presidential nominee requires the support of at least one-fifth of lawmakers, or 40 MPs, to be eligible for the ballot.