Members of the ruling Hungarian Tisza party unanimously backed the candidacy of chess legend Judit Polgar for president. The final decision on her nomination will be made at the next meeting of the parliamentary faction, its leader Andrea Bujdoso said on Monday. Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Sunday that he would ask Judit Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all time, to serve as president in a largely ceremonial capacity until a new constitution is adopted.
On Saturday, Tamás Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment passed by Tisza that ends his term as president. The election of a new head of state and the drafting of a new constitution are central to Peter Magyar’s plan to diminish the influence of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, for which, according to Peter Magyar, he earned a clear mandate from voters.
Parliamentary majority and change of constitutional order
Peter Magyar ended the 16-year rule of the nationalist Fidesz party by winning a decisive victory in the April elections. The parliament, in which Peter Magyar’s party holds two-thirds of the seats, can change any laws and will elect a new president who will remain in office until the new constitution comes into force or for a maximum of five years.
Andrea Bujdoso noted that the parliamentary faction of Tisza agreed on the candidacy of 49-year-old Judit Polgar after a lengthy discussion. He said the deputies called her a “patriotic, honest, sensitive, brave, outstanding and dedicated to her profession” person who “is able to express the unity of the nation”.
Source: The Straits Times
