(Hanoi) Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned, state media reported on Tuesday, after several days of rumors that he was impending impeachment as part of a sweeping anti-corruption purge.
Mr. Phuc “submitted his resignation from the positions he held, quit his job and retired”, the state agency VNA said.
This sudden departure is very unusual in Vietnam where political changes are usually carefully orchestrated by the communist regime, anxious to give the appearance of stability.
Mr. Phuc’s resignation “is unprecedented in the history of the party”, notes Nguyen Khac Gianc, researcher at the Vietnamese Center for Economic and Strategic Studies (VESS).
According to state media, the Communist Party believed that Mr. Phuc bore responsibility for wrongdoings committed by members of his government while he was prime minister, between 2016 and 2021, before he acceded. to the presidency.
According to VNA, citing the official statement of the party’s central committee, Mr. Phuc “assumed his political responsibilities as a leader after several senior officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, committed violations and misconduct. , leading to very serious consequences”.
His departure comes following the dismissal in January by the National Assembly of two deputy prime ministers, Pham Binh Minh, who was also foreign minister, and Vu Duc Dam, the main official in the fight against COVID-19 in the country. Vietnam.
Bribes for PCR tests
At least 100 senior government officials and business executives have been arrested in recent months over a COVID-19 test distribution scandal.
A manufacturer, the company Viet A Technologies, is accused of having paid bribes to health sector officials in order to allow the sale of its tests to hospitals and pandemic control centers at prices exaggerated.
Among those arrested for this scandal are, in addition to an aide to Mr. Dam, Health Minister Ngoc Anh and Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Thanh Long in June 2022.
A total of 37 other people, mostly diplomats and police, have also been arrested as part of another investigation concerning a repatriation campaign at the height of the pandemic.
After closing its borders in early 2020 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Vietnam has organized nearly 800 charter flights to repatriate citizens from 60 countries.
But travelers have faced complicated procedures while paying exorbitant airfares and quarantine fees to return to Vietnam.
Vietnam is ruled by the Communist Party. The authoritarian regime is officially headed by the Party General Secretary, the President and the Prime Minister, with major decisions being made by the Politburo, which currently has 16 members.
Mr. Phuc, 68, had been elevated in 2021 to the largely honorary office of president after receiving praise for his management, considered generally effective, of the pandemic.
According to Le Hong Hiep, a researcher at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, Mr Phuc’s resignation could also be linked to infighting within the Party.
“It’s mainly related to corruption investigations. But we cannot exclude the possibility that his political rivals also wanted to dismiss him for political reasons,” the analyst told AFP.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, architect of Vietnam’s biggest ever anti-corruption campaign, is due to step down in 2026.
“Some politicians will try to hit the jackpot,” Le Hong Hiep said, suggesting Mr Phuc’s political rivals wanted to get rid of him “to clear the way for another candidate for the top job”.
Candidates include To Lam, the current public security minister, said Hiep, who said the change should not have significant consequences for the country’s politics.
“In Vietnam, politics is always collectively made by the political bureau so I don’t believe his departure will lead to major political change or any problem with the political system,” he said.