VIETNAM President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, number two of the Communist Party, resigns

The decision is voluntary, but it comes after a long anti-corruption campaign. Last month, two other deputy ministers were removed from the Politburo. The centralization of power by the country’s leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, continues.

Hanoi ( / Agency) – Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, second in command of the Communist Party, has submitted his voluntary resignation. He, too, withdrew his membership of the Politburo, after two deputy ministers were ousted from the top body in late December over corruption scandals.

The Communist Party of Vietnam (increasingly linked to the sole figure of the secretary general, Nguyen Phu Trong, the country’s de facto leader) accused Nguyen Xuan Phuc of “rape and crimes” when he was prime minister. Phuc, 68, was prime minister from 2016 to 2021, and then held the presidency, maintaining above all a representative role. “Aware of his responsibilities to the party and the people, [Nguyen Xuan Phuc] He has requested to resign from the functions assigned to him, leave his position and retire,” said a statement from the Vietnamese government.

However, to become effective, the president’s resignation must be approved by the National Assembly (Parliament). As in previous cases of removal of important Politburo officials, an extraordinary meeting was called.

There are four “pillars” of power in Vietnam: the party secretary, the president, the prime minister and the head of the National Assembly. According to many analysts, Phuc was to become party secretary, but rumors had already spread in recent days that he would resign. The anti-corruption campaign instigated by Nguyen Phu Trong – described by himself as a “fiery furnace” – continues in the process of centralization of power: in 2022 alone, 539 Party members were prosecuted or dismissed for corruption and other “deliberate crimes”. Police investigated 453 corruption cases last year, 50% more than in 2021.