Hungary limits prime minister terms to eight years, preventing Viktor Orbán from ever returning to power
The Hungarian parliament voted on Monday to restrict any future prime minister to two terms, a reform that excludes Viktor Orbán after his 20 years in office and fulfills a key campaign pledge by new premier Péter Magyar.
A sweeping constitutional change
Hungary’s parliament approved a constitutional amendment on Monday that limits a prime minister to a maximum of two four-year mandates. The vote, which passed 135 to 50 with 6 abstentions, was driven by the ruling Tisza party of Péter Magyar and needed only the signature of President Tamás Sulyok to take effect. The measure applies retroactively to all terms served since 2 May 1990, meaning Viktor Orbán, who governed for a total of 20 years across five terms, can never again hold the office.
The Orban law has just been voted through. That was the most pressing issue. If I’m needed, I’ll be here.
Magyar fulfills his central promise
During the April election campaign, Magyar repeatedly promised to prevent a permanent concentration of power. His Tisza party won a two-thirds supermajority on 12 April, giving it the tools to revise the constitution without a referendum. Magyar himself took office in May and will now be able to serve only until 2034, even if he wins two subsequent elections.
- Tisza wins parliamentary election with two-thirds supermajority
- Péter Magyar sworn in as prime minister
- Parliament approves constitutional amendment capping PM terms at two
The reform was introduced by two Tisza MPs as an individual motion, a fast-track procedure that Orbán’s Fidesz had itself used for years when in opposition. Fidesz lawmakers voted against the amendment, and Balázs Orbán, the former prime minister’s political director, accused Magyar of “using political power to exclude a political opponent from democratic competition.”
He is using political power to exclude a political opponent from democratic competition.
Dismantling the Orbán-era apparatus
The amendment also scrapped the constitutional basis for the Sovereignty Protection Office, created in 2023 to monitor “undue political interference” by foreign interests. Critics had long viewed the body as a tool to intimidate NGOs and opposition groups. Additionally, the legal groundwork was laid to bring so-called KEKVA public trust foundations back under direct state control. These foundations, into which the previous government had transferred assets and management of universities and cultural institutions, were often staffed with Fidesz loyalists.
- Yes
- 135
- No
- 50
- Abstentions
- 6
Eyes on EU funds
For four consecutive years Transparency International has ranked Hungary as the EU’s most corrupt member state. Brussels withheld billions of euros over rule-of-law concerns, but last month the European Commission agreed to unlock €16.4 billion in funding provided Budapest enacts a package of anti‑corruption reforms. The measures now moving through parliament are partly designed to meet those conditions.
Hungary has been labelled the most corrupt country in the European Union for four years running.
A parliamentary system with a presidential twist
Although term limits are common in presidential systems, they are rare in parliamentary democracies where voters elect parties, not directly a head of government. Legal analysts noted that the retroactive application effectively targets one person and restricts the parliament’s freedom to choose the candidate it deems most suitable. Future governments with a two-thirds majority could theoretically reverse the amendment, but for now the path back for Orbán is closed.
