Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned, state media said on Tuesday after days of rumors that he was being sacked as part of a major anti-corruption campaign that saw several ministers sacked.
The sudden departure is a highly unusual move in communist Vietnam, where political change is normally handled carefully, with an emphasis on cautious stability.
Only one other Communist Party chairman has ever stepped down, and that was for health reasons.
“The resignation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc is an unprecedented step in the history of the party,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, research fellow at the Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS).
State media said the Communist Party had ruled that he was responsible for wrongdoings committed by senior ministers under him as prime minister in 2016-2021, before becoming president.
This month two deputy prime ministers were sacked in an anti-corruption purge that led to the arrest of dozens of officials, many on corruption charges related to deals made as part of Vietnam’s COVID pandemic response .
“When several officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, committed violations and lapses, which had very serious consequences, Phuc took political responsibility as leader,” state news agency VNA quoted an official statement from the party’s central committee as saying. “
Earlier this month, the country’s rubber-stamp National Assembly removed Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam from their positions as deputy prime ministers.
Minh was foreign minister while Dam was in charge of handling the country’s COVID-19 pandemic.
At least 100 officials and businessmen, including a dam assistant, have been arrested in connection with a scam involving the distribution of COVID-19 test kits.
Thirty-seven people – among them several senior diplomats and police – have also been arrested in an investigation into the repatriation of Vietnamese during the pandemic.
– Corruption, infighting –
After closing its borders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Vietnam organized nearly 800 charter flights to bring citizens home from 60 countries and territories.
But travelers faced complicated procedures while paying exorbitant airfares and quarantine fees to get back to Vietnam.
Phuc, 68, was elevated to the largely ceremonial role of president in April 2021 after the country was successful in handling the pandemic.
Vietnam is run by the authoritarian Communist Party and officially headed by the Party General Secretary, President and Prime Minister, with major decisions made by the Politburo, which now numbers 16.
Le Hong Heap, a fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said Phuc’s resignation could also be linked to political infighting.
“It is mainly related to the corruption investigation, but we cannot rule out the possibility that his political rivals also wanted to remove him from office for political reasons,” he told AFP.
Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, the architect of Vietnam’s biggest anti-corruption campaign, is due to step down in 2026.
“Some politicians will try to get the (top) prize, and because of competition from their rivals – in this case Mr. Fuchs is one of them – they may want to remove him to clear the way for another candidate to get the top.” job.”
Lam Hai, the current minister of public security, is among the candidates to replace Phuc, Hype said, adding that the change would not have significant consequences for the country’s direction.
“In Vietnam, policies are made collectively by the Politburo, so I don’t think his departure will lead to major policy changes or any problems with the political system.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)