On Monday, the Hungarian parliament voted to appoint Tamás Sulyok as the nation's new president. Sulyok, a 67-year-old jurist, succeeds Katalin Novák, who resigned earlier this month amid public outcry regarding her decision to pardon a man convicted of covering up child sexual abuse in a state-run children's home.

While DW characterizes Sulyok as an "Orban critic," his nomination was officially backed by the governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition, which holds a supermajority in the parliament. This support ensured his relatively swift confirmation. Sulyok’s background is primarily legal; he served as the president of the Constitutional Court of Hungary since 2016. His election marks a transition in the presidency, a role that is largely ceremonial in Hungary but carries significant symbolic weight and the power to sign laws into effect.

The election process was straightforward due to the ruling party's dominance in the legislature. Opposition parties in Hungary have expressed varying degrees of skepticism regarding the appointment, questioning whether the new president will provide sufficient oversight of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government or if he will act as a loyalist to the ruling party. Supporters of the government argue that Sulyok’s legal expertise makes him a stable and appropriate choice to restore public confidence in the office following the scandal that led to Novák's departure.