Hungarian parliament votes to cap prime ministerial terms at eight years, barring Viktor Orbán from returning to power

The vote

The constitutional amendment passed with 135 votes in favour, 50 against and six abstentions, clearing the two-thirds majority required under Hungarian law without a referendum. The session took place on Monday in Budapest. The governing Tisza party, led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, holds a comfortable supermajority in the new parliament and used it for the first time to alter the constitution that Orbán had introduced 16 years ago and repeatedly revised.

Unlimited terms can lead to a concentration of power.

Orbán shut out permanently

The new provision bars anyone who has already served at least eight years as prime minister from holding the office again. Orbán led Hungary from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2010 until April 2026, totalling two decades. The rule also binds Magyar, who can now serve a maximum of two full legislative terms, meaning one re-election absent snap polls. Orbán's Fidesz party opposed the cap, arguing it could restrict the popular will.

Magyar's reform agenda

The term-limit pledge was a centrepiece of Magyar's campaign before the April 12 parliamentary election, which Tisza won decisively against Fidesz. The centre-right, pro-European premier has framed the constitutional overhaul as a safeguard against the kind of power consolidation he says occurred under his predecessor. The president's role in Hungary, already restricted to a largely ceremonial one, had previously been limited to one re-election for a second five-year term.

Sovereignty office to be dissolved

The constitutional change also paves the way for dismantling the Office for the Protection of National Sovereignty, a controversial body created by Orbán's government in 2024. The agency was granted broad investigative powers, ostensibly to counter foreign influence, but directed most of its activity against Orbán's critics, independent media and NGOs, including Transparency International. The office has not published new reports since Magyar's electoral victory. Parliament is expected to vote on its dissolution at the end of June.