Vietnam’s National Assembly on Thursday elected Vo Van Thuong as the country’s new president in a reshuffle of the country’s top leadership amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
In an extraordinary session, lawmakers confirmed Thuong, 52, after the ruling Communist Party on Wednesday named her as president, a largely ceremonial role but one of the top four political posts in the Southeast Asian nation. Thuong’s election followed the abrupt resignation in January of his predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, whom the party blamed for “violations and wrongdoing” by officials under his control, which was seen as a major escalation in the country’s “blazing furnace” anti-corruption crackdown.In his first speech to parliament as the new president, Thuong said he would continue to “resolutely” fight against corruption. “I will be completely loyal to the fatherland, the people, and the constitution, striving to complete the tasks assigned to me by the party, the state, and the people,” Thuong said in a statement broadcast on state television in Vietnam. Thuong is the youngest member of the party’s Politburo, the country’s top decision-making body, and is considered a veteran of the party, having begun his political career at university in communist youth organizations. He is widely considered to be close to General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong, Vietnam’s most powerful man and chief architect of the party’s fight against corruption. “The burning furnace campaign will not cool down in the near future,” said Florian Feyerabend, the representative in Vietnam for Germany’s think tank, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Diplomats and businessmen have raised concerns about the anti-corruption campaign as it has crippled many routine transactions in Vietnam as officials fear being caught in the act. Predictability Restored A Hanoi-based diplomat said Thuong’s election was a major step among those jockeying to succeed Trong as general secretary, noting that the 78-year-old leader could step down before the end of his third term in 2026.