András Baka elected president amid Fidesz exodus

Hungarian parliament, after all 51 members of the ruling Fidesz party walked out in protest, voted 140‑6 to appoint 73‑year‑old former supreme court chief András Baka as the country’s head of state.

Baka, who served 17 years as Hungary’s judge at the European Court of Human Rights, had been stripped of his Supreme Court presidency by the Orbán-led government in 2011 for upholding the rule of law. He now faces the task of supervising Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s efforts to dismantle the economic‑political machinery erected by Orbán and to shepherd the drafting of a replacement constitution.

The parliament has already passed 27 laws and set two constitutional amendments in motion, while it has revoked all emergency states that Orbán used to rule by decree. It also abolished the “Sovereignty Protection Office”—the tool used to attack journalists and NGOs—and created a National Asset Recovery Office granted sweeping authority to investigate alleged embezzlement by former officials.

Baka’s election is expected to last until the new constitution is inaugurated or, at most, five years. In a BBC interview he said he opposed limiting MPs’ terms, believing voters should choose representatives freely, and warned that his tenure would “push back against Hungary’s tendency to trust in powerful leaders”.