Hungary's parliament voted in favor of strengthening the president's position in future, a few months before parliamentary elections where longstanding Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces the biggest challenge to his stranglehold on national politics in years.

Conservative opposition leader Peter Magyar and his TISZA party currently have a roughly 10-point lead in opinion polls, with a vote likely in April 2026.

Hungary's parliament voted 134 in favor of the bill, with 49 votes against and two abstentions, meeting the two-thirds majority needed for the constitutional change.

The chamber is currently dominated by Orban's Fidesz party and its allies. Magyar's party did not exist when Hungary last elected a parliament in 2022; the 44-year-old broke away from Fidesz in 2024.

Largely ceremonial position, but with veto powers on legislation

The current president is Tamas Sulyok, a former head of the constitutional court who is seen as an Orban ally. His term runs out in 2030. 

The role is a largely ceremonial one, not unlike Germany's presidency, with the real power held by the prime minister, who is head of government. 

However, the president does have the power to veto some legislation or refer it to the Constitutional Court for review, meaning the head of state does theoretically have the power to frustrate a government's agenda.

The Constitutional Court is headed by another Orban ally, former Chief Public Prosecutor Peter Polt, who was appointed to a 12-year term earlier this year.

Under the previous rules, parliamentarians could declare a president unable to fulfill the duties of the office with a simple majority vote. Going forward, a two-thirds supermajority will be required.

Government says it plugged gap that 'could give rise to abuse' 

While much could change between now and a 2026 vote, and with Hungary's first-past-the-post voting system making major swings in seat distribution possible with relatively small changes in the popular vote share, it currently seems unlikely that any party will secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly akin to that enjoyed by Fidesz in recent years.

Hungary's government said the changes were sought at the request of President Sulyok himself. 

"The President of the Republic indicated that he sees a gap in his own legal status that could give rise to potential abuse, and we have therefore accepted his observation," Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas told a media briefing on Wednesday. 

TISZA, meanwhile, told independent media Telex that the bill was "further proof" that Orban's government was afraid voters would not return it to power next year. 

Edited by Sean Sinico