Hungary's parliament picked a former human rights judge who spent years clashing with Viktor Orbán's governing style to become the country's next president, a largely ceremonial post that has taken on real symbolic weight amid Prime Minister Péter Magyar's push to dismantle Orbán-era institutions.

Lawmakers elected András Baka in a secret ballot Tuesday, with 140 votes in favor and six against, and no abstentions. Orbán's Fidesz party, now in opposition after Magyar's Tisza party ended his 16-year rule in the April election, boycotted the vote entirely. Tisza's two-thirds majority in parliament meant Baka's win was never seriously in doubt once the party nominated him on Saturday.

Baka, 73, spent 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights before returning to Hungary, where he previously led the country's Supreme Court. His nomination and swift election reflect Magyar's broader effort to replace officials appointed or elected under Orbán, a campaign that began with calls for the resignation of Tamás Sulyok, the outgoing president whom Magyar has described as Orbán's "puppet."

In his first remarks after taking the oath of office, Baka didn't hold back on the government he's replacing, saying that during Orbán's rule "one party captured the state" and that branches of power were never truly separate, leaving Hungary without a functioning system of checks and balances. He struck a more measured tone about the road ahead, saying the task of building Hungary's future "demands both justice and self-restraint."

Baka is expected to be formally sworn in on August 19, at which point he'll take on a role that carries limited executive power but significant symbolic authority, including formally signing legislation and representing Hungary at state functions. His election adds another marker to Magyar's rapid restructuring of Hungarian institutions less than four months after taking office, a process that has moved faster than many analysts expected given the scale of change involved in unwinding over a decade and a half of Orbán-aligned governance.