The president, Tamás Sulyok, resigned in July in light of Tisza's landslide victory in the spring parliamentary elections. The victory also put an end to the 16-year rule of national conservative Orbán, and now Tisza's leader, Péter Magyar, has taken over as prime minister.
In Hungary, the president has a largely ceremonial role. The 73-year-old Baka served as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights for 17 years and was appointed chief judge of the Supreme Court in 2009. However, his term was terminated early in 2012 after he criticized the Orbán government's decision to lower the retirement age for judges.
Tisza had previously nominated chess star Judit Polgar for the presidency, but she declined.
