Hungary’s governing Fidesz-KDNP has agreed on Tamás Sulyok as its joint candidate to succeed Katalin Novák as president of Hungary.
At a countryside meeting of the ruling parliamentary group, the delegates approved the suggestion of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for Sulyok to become the next head of state.
“We propose Tamás Sulyok, president of the Constitutional Court, as head of state,” caucus leader Máté Kocsis told the gathering in the popular resort town of Balatonalmádi.
He said that parliament would decide on the resignation of the former head of state on Feb. 26 and stressed that the nomination process would also depend on whether the opposition parties put forward a candidate, and the date of the election could be set in light of that.
On the same day, Sulyok issued a short statement confirming his acceptance of the nomination and expressing his desire to do his best to represent the unity of the nation.
“As president of the Constitutional Court, I was honored to be nominated for the office of head of state. As a lawyer, as president of the Republic, I can serve the public good and express the unity of the nation, above all by upholding the fundamental values of law. I respectfully thank you for your nomination as President of the Republic and I accept your candidature,” Sulyok said.
Sulyok, 67, established his own private law firm in 1991 and has also been teaching constitutional law since 2005. He was elected by parliament to head the country’s constitutional court in 2016.
Sulyok has no party affiliations and by his own admission “only cares about the law.”
