Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Hungarian Parliament, in a secret ballot, elected the country’s new president, a lawyer and former head of the Supreme Court, András Báka. His candidacy was put forward by the governing party Fidesz.
Telex reports this.
Báka received votes from 140 deputies, six voted against. Representatives of the party of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Fidesz, and the Christian Democratic People’s Party did not participate in the vote. Instead, they went to lay wreaths at the monument dedicated to the Hungarian Revolution 1956 year.
After the election Báka said he views the presidency as a great honor. At the same time, he emphasized that the country is going through a deep crisis and a serious societal rift.
The new head of state also stated that Hungary must remain part of Europe. According to him, the president should be neutral toward political parties and at the same time protect the fundamental principles of the constitutional order, the European Union, and the state.
András Báka is a lawyer who in 1991–2008 years worked at the European Court of Human Rights.
In 2009, he chaired the Hungarian Supreme Court. After the constitutional reform 2011, Báka was dismissed from office. He himself linked this to public criticism of the government’s judicial reform under Viktor Orbán. Subsequently, the ECtHR found a violation of his rights in this situation.
Meanwhile, Báka’s candidacy drew criticism from opposition forces due to his prior rulings in cases related to events 1956 and 2006.
HNDP representative Bence Retvari, in particular, stated that while working at the ECtHR Báka allegedly “justified” one of the defendants in cases about the shooting of protesters during the Hungarian Revolution 1956.
László Toroczkai, leader of the Our Homeland party, also criticized Báka over decisions regarding compensation to those harmed by police actions during the suppression of anti-government protests 2006. He called these people “victims of political terror.”
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