BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's Parliament elected former Supreme Court chief justice András Baka as president on Tuesday as the country's new government dismantles power structures left behind by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Lawmakers with the governing Tisza party elected Baka in a secret ballot with 140 votes for and six votes against with no abstentions, while Orbán's far-right Fidesz party boycotted the vote.
Baka is expected to be sworn in on Aug. 19. The role of president in Hungary is largely ceremonial, though the president does have the power to send bills back to lawmakers or to the Constitutional Court for review.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar's government has argued that the purge of officials appointed during Orbán's time in office is necessary to restore democratic norms and institutional integrity that were eroded during his tenure.
Orbán and Fidesz have accused the new government of “tyrannical” policies, which Magyar and Tisza deny.
In comments in Parliament following his election, Baka criticized the performance of Orbán's four successive governments and said one of the biggest challenges facing Hungary was the deep social and political polarization during the former leader's 16 years in power.
Baka added that while past legal and financial abuses must be investigated and prosecuted and democratic institutions restored, political change in Hungary should not come through “revenge.”
“This country cannot build a common future while its citizens see each other as enemies,” he said. “Political change should not mean that from now on people will have to be afraid, be silent, or feel like outsiders in their own country.”
Since taking office in May, Magyar’s administration has gone to work dismantling what he calls Orbán’s “mafia” by removing numerous political appointees and heads of institutions viewed as having facilitated Orbán’s autocratic government.
The new government has suspended the news service of Hungary’s public television and radio — which Magyar has argued served as a “propaganda factory” for Orbán’s party — and closed Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office, an authority seen by Orbán’s opponents as a tool for intimidating critics and silencing independent media.
It has also made judicial reforms, set up an office aimed at investigating financial abuses under the Orbán government and imposed a 12-year term limit on lawmakers and an 8-year limit for prime ministers.
Baka's election came after weeks of wrangling by Tisza to oust Orbán-era president Tamás Sulyok, who was nominated and confirmed by Orbán's party in 2024.
Magyar, who has referred to Sulyok as “Orbán's puppet,” had called on the former president to resign after he and Tisza won a landslide election in April. After Sulyok refused, Tisza passed a constitutional amendment ending his term, which Sulyok reluctantly signed in July.
Baka, 74, served from 1991 to 2008 on the European Court of Human Rights. He was Supreme Court chief justice from 2009 to 2011 but was removed by Orbán's government three years before the end of his term.
Baka brought his removal before the European Court of Human Rights, which found in 2014 that Orbán's government had violated his rights and that his dismissal was linked to his criticism of the government's judicial reforms.
He has been a visiting professor or lecturer at numerous U.S. universities including the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University.
Andras Baka, sole candidate of the Tisza Party for President of the Republic of Hungary and former President of the Supreme Court, centre, attends the presidential election during the extraordinary plenary session of the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug.11, 2026. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Andras Baka, sole candidate of the Tisza Party for President of the Republic of Hungary and former President of the Supreme Court attends the presidential election during the extraordinary plenary session of the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug.11, 2026. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Andras Baka, sole candidate of the Tisza Party for President of the Republic of Hungary and former President of the Supreme Court, center, arrives for the presidential election during the extraordinary plenary session of the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug.11, 2026. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) — Search and rescue efforts resumed Tuesday in dozens of cities and towns in western Colombia after a powerful earthquake left over 3,000 missing, with many trapped under the debris.
Mayors and governors from Cali, Pereira, Choco and Manizalez said Tuesday at least 179 people had died in those four areas; the federal government, which last updated its estimates in the hours after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Monday, has said at least 111 died.
Around 1,600 buildings across the region have been reported damaged or collapsed. Soldiers, rescue personnel and families picked through the rubble, passing large pieces of concrete by hand along lines of volunteers.
Standing near the remains of his brother’s collapsed apartment building in Pereira, Jairo Vargas said he made the 220-kilometer (135-mile) drive from Medellin, hoping to find his brother alive.
“I’m absolutely certain he’s here. Absolutely certain, Vargas said, adding that his brother’s car is parked outside. But he fears his sibling did not survive.
“The debris surrounding my brother is soft,” he said, as heavy machinery rumbled through the debris. “It’s possible that it’s protecting him, but we can’t hear any noises anymore. I don’t know. I have little hope.”
Choco, the region surrounding the quake’s epicenter, is one of Colombia's poorest and most neglected regions, often beset by warring armed groups. Much of Choco is accessible only by boat, through the jungle or by airplane. Little was known about the extent of damage there.
President Abelardo De la Espriella, who was inaugurated just days earlier, traveled to Choco’s capital, Quibdo, on Monday night and announced he was mobilizing “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond, deploying engineers, rescue workers and search dogs.
“Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten,’” he said.
The earthquake presents the first major test for de la Espriella, who is a divisive figure because of his pledge to crack down on criminal groups in the Andean nation.
Families posted information about missing loved ones on citizen-run websites.
Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle, Miguel Ángel Zamora, cradling his dog. The farmer was living in a rural area of El Cairo, not far from the quake's epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar.
Local authorities said 80% of El Cairo, a town of about 7,000 people, was damaged. Zamora said her uncle lived in a traditional house of sticks and mud.
“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” Zamora said.
The earthquake left many people unnerved after back-to-back quakes devastated neighboring Venezuela in late June, destroying hundreds of buildings and killing more than 6,300 people.
Mónica Sánchez owns a small company that makes work uniforms. Her home city, Pereira, was one of the worst hit, and a wall inside the factory collapsed. Sánchez and her 12 workers got outside just in time.
“It was shocking — the city fell down around us,” she said.
Pereira’s municipal government said at least 58 buildings collapsed, while Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder said at least 40 buildings had collapsed.
Both cities enforced curfews Monday night to prevent looting. And in Pereira, the city government has banned privately owned vehicles from circulating, to clear the way for ambulances, police and rescue workers.
The U.S. State Department has announced it would provide $15.5 million for emergency shelter, food and other aid. Governments across Latin America have also lined up to help.
“This has been a tragedy for the whole city, for thousands of families,” Pereira Mayor Mauricio Salazar told local media, his voice quavering. “But here we are, and we will continue forward with the hand of God.”
Suarez reported from Bogota and Janetsky reported from Mexico City.
Rescue workers and volunteers clear debris the day after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Angel Lopez)
A neighbor looks at a collapsed building the day after and earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Residentes embrace as rescue workers search through the rubble of their damaged home the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Rescue workers clear debris the day after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Rescue workers cut through debris as they search for survivors the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A vehicle is crushed by debris after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Diaz)
Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Rescue workers and residents search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
People search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
