The end of dual power: the Constitutional Court rejected all three remaining Fidesz motions today

HUNGARY - In Brief 17 Aug 2026 by Istvan Racz

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Following the rejection of a Fidesz motion to reverse the re-nationalisation of public interest trusts the other day, all three remaining motions handed in by Fidesz were rejected by the Court today. As a result, President Baka remains in office, rather than former president Mr. Sulyok being put back in office, the head of the Constitutional Court, Mr. Polt, and three other judges of the Court are going to leave office on September 1, and, somewhat less importantly, the maximum term for any member of parliament remains limited to 12 years (three full parliamentary terms in practice).This way, a constitutional crisis and a potential political chaos has been averted, which is another major victory for Tisza. Mr. Orbán's 'the worse, the better' approach, in other words his not so much hidden intention to create turmoil and come back of the back of it has been defeated at this stage. Moreover, we would say that the period of dual power, which has existed since the election in April is largely over: with the President's office and the Constitutional Court taken over, also the Fidesz-appointed Prosecutor General having resigned and leaving office on August 25, the new parallel prosecutor (the National Wealth Recovery and Protection Bureau) voted into law and being set up just now, PITs, with about HUF3000bn of originally public assets brought back under government control, and the government coming close to meeting RRF conditions and gaining access to EU funds, the balance of power has made a massive shift in Tisza's favour. This is not to say that Fidesz does not have any cards left, but Tisza now seems predominant in the domestic political arena.