Hungary's ruling Tisza party proposes Aug. 11 presidential vote

Hungary's ruling Tisza party has proposed that parliament elect the country's new president on August 11, according to an official motion published on the parliament's website on August 5.

Electing a new president and drafting a new constitution are key elements of Prime Minister Péter Magyar's plan to dismantle what he describes as former prime minister Viktor Orbán's entrenched power structures, a mandate he says was granted by voters, Caliber.Az reports, citing Reuters.

On July 18, outgoing President Tamás Sulyok signed constitutional amendments that, among other provisions, provide for the early termination of his presidential mandate.

After Hungary's parliament, where Tisza holds a constitutional majority, approved the amendments, Sulyok had five days to either sign the legislation or veto it.

On July 20, Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgár, whom Magyar had proposed for the presidency, said she would decline the nomination.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov