Hungary's ruling party nominates former Supreme Court head Baka as president

Hungary's ruling Tisza party nominated Andras Baka, a former head of the Supreme Court, as the country's ​next president, the party's parliamentary group said on Facebook on Saturday.
Baka is expected ‌to be elected to the largely ceremonial position by parliament on Tuesday, a symbolic step in Prime Minister Peter Magyar's attempt to dismantle former premier Viktor Orban's bastions of power, for which Magyar says he ​received a strong mandate from voters in April elections which his party won by ​a landslide.

Tisza lawmakers said Baka had always "attached paramount importance to the principle ⁠of the separation of powers, consistently standing up for the rule of law and ​judicial independence."
"We are convinced that Dr. Andras Baka’s experience and the professional independence he has ​demonstrated throughout his career represent a significant asset at a time when we are preparing to jointly lay the foundations for Hungary’s new constitutional order," they added.
Magyar's election victory ended Orban's 16-year rule. He has ​vowed to restore democratic standards and has called on key officials appointed or elected ​by Orban's party to resign.

Removing former President Tamas Sulyok was a key goal of Magyar, who called him a "puppet" of ‌Orban. ⁠Sulyok signed the constitutional amendment passed by Magyar's ruling party that ended his own presidency last month.
The amendment says the new president would stay in office until a new constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years.
Baka, a former judge on the European Court of Human ​Rights, was removed from ​his position as ⁠the head of the supreme court by Orban's government in 2011, three years before the end of his mandate.
The European Court of Human ​Rights ruled in 2014 that Hungary had sacked Baka for criticism ​of the ⁠government and that his removal did damage to democratic freedoms in Hungary. Orban's government rejected those allegations.
Under Hungary's current constitution, the president is a largely ceremonial head of state with only ⁠limited ​powers to veto legislation or have it reviewed.

The opposition Fidesz party said ​it would not participate in the process of electing the president, and accused Tisza of authoritarian policies, allegations which ​Tisza denied.

-Reuters