Vietnam’s Communist Party has named To Lam, Minister of Public Security, as the country’s new president, state media announced Saturday, after his predecessor resigned as part of a sweeping anti-corruption purge.
The party’s central committee approved “the nomination of Comrade To Lam, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, as chairman,” the Vietnam News Agency reported.
Lam, 66, public security minister since 2016, has taken a hard line on human rights movements in the communist country.
His appointment follows the resignation of Vo Van Thuong in March, after only one year in office, as part of the anti-corruption campaign.
The spectacular fall of the 53-year-old ex-president came as Vietnam experiences profound political upheaval, with his predecessor also ousted as part of an anti-corruption campaign that saw several ministers sacked and Prominent business leaders on trial for fraud and corruption.
In the same context, the President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, 67, also resigned in April following “violations and shortcomings”, according to the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV).
Tran Thanh Man, 61, has been named to succeed him as head of Vietnam’s National Assembly, state media said on Saturday.
Mr. Man, until now vice-president of the National Assembly, thus becomes one of the four pillars of the Vietnamese executive, with the secretary general of the PCV, the president and the prime minister.
Vietnam is ruled by the Communist Party, with major decisions made by the 16-member Politburo.
This body has seen the gradual departure since 2021 of eighteen of its members, including a president, a deputy prime minister and a former minister.
Although the president is the head of state, the regime’s strongman is the party’s general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, considered the architect of the anti-corruption campaign, popular with public opinion. Vietnamese.