• Home
• Channel: Current Affairs
• Opposition Calls for Next Hungarian President to be Elected by Citizens

Opposition Calls for Next Hungarian President to be Elected by Citizens

• 15 Feb 2024 5:22 AM
• Hungary Matters

The opposition Jobbik-Conservatives have said they are calling an extraordinary session of parliament to propose a bill on directly electing the president of the republic.

The right-wing party last year proposed to MPs changing how the head of state is elected, but the ruling Fidesz majority voted it down, Brenner Koloman, who is Jobbik’s mayoral candidate for the capital, told a press conference on Sunday.

Noting the outcry over Katalin Novák’s decision to pardon the deputy director of a children’s home who was found complicit in child abuse, he said it would have been preferable had a president been elected by Hungarian citizens rather than by Fidesz MPs, adding that a figure who truly embodied the unity of the nation should be elected as head of state.

Mi Hazánk Nominates Economist Magdolna Csath for Hungary President

The opposition Mi Hazank has named economist Magdolna Csath as their nominee for Hungary’s next president, according to a social media post published by party leader László Toroczkai.

“It is high time Hungary’s president is no longer a political party stalwart,” Toroczkai said, adding that Csath “meets that requirement”.

Csath’s career has earned her “broad recognition”, Toroczkai said, suggesting that she could be supported by the other parties.

LMP to Nominate Uni Professor Hack for Hungary's Next President

Opposition LMP will nominate university professor and lawyer Peter Hack for the post of Hungary’s next president, Péter Ungár, the party’s co-leader said.

Ungár said on Facebook that he would contact all lawmakers about their proposal in a letter. A joint nomination of Hack would enable Hungary to have a president representing the unity of the nation, and one who guards the rule of law and the constitutional order, he said.

Hack has been a teacher at Budapest’s ELTE university for 41 years, and his areas of research include judicial independence, the organisation and operation of justice administration, the enforcement of human rights in criminal procedures, and the legal means of fighting corruption, he said.

Hack has political experience, too, but he is not a party politician, Ungár added.

He noted that Hack had served as an MP from 1990 until 2002 when he retired from politics.

You're very welcome to comment and discuss this, and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: 
Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoop’s group: Budapest Expats - The International Community

You can subscribe to our newsletter here:
XpatLoop.com/Newsletters

Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?
Then just contact us here!

• How does this content make you feel?
• I love it
• I like it
• I dislike it

• Opposition Hungarian President Fidesz

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

Updated: 'Budapest Will Not Kneel', Says Mayor to Gov't

• 4 Dec 2025 12:00 PM

At a "Budapest Pride March 2.0" rally outside the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister's office, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, vowed the city would "not kneel", as he handed the City Assembly's resolution on its "real financial crisis" to a government representative.



Budget Crisis Threatens Budapest’s Public Services, City Hall Rejects Insolvency Ultimatum

• 2 Dec 2025 6:15 AM

The financial stability of Budapest is currently at the centre of a fierce political standoff between the City Assembly and the national government. The dispute intensified this week after Mayor Gergely Karácsony and the city administration rejected a government proposal to declare the capital insolvent, an act the government had framed as a prerequisite for offering financial aid.



New Poll: Fidesz Ahead by 400,000 Votes If Election Held Now

• 1 Dec 2025 3:43 PM

If Hungary's election were held now, Fidesz would win 47 percent of the vote, up from 46 percent in August, while the opposition Tisza Party trails at 40 percent, according to a Nezopont Institute survey of 1,000 respondents conducted between Nov 24 and 26.



Watch: Who is Péter Magyar? What Does His Tisza Party Stand For? And Can Magyar beat Orbán?

• 28 Nov 2025 12:49 PM

Magyar is the most visible new face on Hungary’s political stage — a former Fidesz insider who turned into a high-profile opposition leader almost overnight. He now accuses the government of nepotism, misusing EU funds, and using state media for propaganda, advocating for policies to combat corruption and restore democratic institutions.