Government · Budapest
Hungary's PM Magyar moves to oust president and launch anti-corruption 'Purgatory' operation
Prime Minister Peter Magyar submits a constitutional amendment to dismiss President Tamas Sulyok and creates a national asset recovery office, calling it 'Operation Purgatory'.
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In brief
PM Magyar submits an amendment that would immediately end President Tamas Sulyok's term after it comes into force.
A new National Asset Protection and Recovery Office will investigate and recover misused public funds from the past two decades.
The amendment imposes a 70-year age limit on Constitutional Court judges, a 12-year term limit for MPs, and lets judges elect senior judicial leaders.
Magyar claims graft has cost Hungarians that share of economic output, with the EU already freezing part of Hungary's funding over corruption.
- 12 AprMagyar's Tisza party wins parliamentary election, ending Orbán's Fidesz rule.
- 30 MayDeadline for Orbán-era officials to resign passes; President Sulyok and court presidents ignore it.
- 22 JunMagyar unveils constitutional amendment to remove president and launches Operation Purgatory.
- 1 SeptBroad constitutional process begins, with public involvement leading to referendum on a new constitution.
A new government takes on the old guard
Magyar, whose Tisza party won the April 12 parliamentary elections and ended Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule, laid out a plan to remove what he called "Orbán's marionettes" from top posts. He had given President Sulyok, Constitutional Court president Péter Polt, and Supreme Court president András Varga a deadline of May 30 to resign voluntarily, but they refused. Now he is amending the constitution to force them out.
“With 'Operation Purgatory' we liberate our country from the captivity of the political and economic mafia that has ruled for the past 16 years.”
The president in the crosshairs
The amendment states that "the day after the latest amendment to the Constitution comes into force, the President of the Republic's term of office shall cease." Sulyok, in office since March 2024, has denied having a political agenda, claiming he only ensured the necessary balance of powers. If removed, Parliament will elect a new head of state for up to five years or until a new constitution comes into force.
“I have had no political agenda and have only ensured the necessary balance of powers.”
The anti-corruption push
At the heart of Magyar's reforms is the creation of a National Asset Protection and Recovery Office, tasked with tracing and recovering misused public funds from the past two decades. Magyar said corruption has cost Hungarians between 8 and 10 percent of GDP in recent years. The EU has withheld part of Hungary's funding over graft concerns.
Sweeping constitutional changes
Beyond the president, the amendment introduces a 70-year age limit for Constitutional Court judges (ending the mandate of those over 70, including Péter Polt), a 12-year term limit for MPs, and allows judges to elect the presidents of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the Council of the Judiciary. Magyar also announced that a broad constitutional process will start in September with public involvement, and a new constitution will be ratified by referendum.
“He called Magyar's speech 'slanderous and outrageous'.”
Timeline of the purge
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Sources and context
- RFIOperaţiunea "Purgatoriul" | Premierul Peter Magyar înfiinţează un birou anticorupţie şi ia măsuri pentru demiterea preşedintelui Ungariei
- N-tvUngarns Ministerpräsident Magyar kündigt Umbau und neue Verfassung an
- ANSA.itHungary's government initiates a constitutional amendment to remove the president - Hungary
- ANSA.itUngheria, il governo avvia la modifica costituzionale per rimuovere presidente - Ungheria
- Péter Magyar
- Prime Minister of Hungary, leader of the Tisza party
- Tamás Sulyok
- President of Hungary, accused of loyalty to former PM Viktor Orbán
- Viktor Orbán
- Former Hungarian prime minister and leader of Fidesz, defeated in April 2026 election
- Péter Polt
- President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, seen as loyal to Orbán
- András Varga
- President of the Supreme Court of Hungary, targeted by the purge
- Gergely Gulyás
- Fidesz MP, former governing party deputy, critic of Magyar's speech
- Places
- Budapest
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