New Delhi, July 14 -- BUDAPEST - The vote was not close. Hungary's parliament approved a constitutional amendment Monday with 139 votes in favour and six against, a margin so lopsided it rendered the procedural steps that follow almost ceremonial. The amendment would immediately terminate the term of President Tamas Sulyok, giving him five days to sign the measure into law or face the start of formal impeachment proceedings.

Sulyok served as chief of Hungary's Constitutional Court before Viktor Orban's parliament elected him president in February 2024. He spent years in that judicial role defending the legal framework that enabled Orban's sixteen-year grip on power. He now becomes its most prominent casualty.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar...