Tô Lâm to be Vietnam’s new president

Since 2016, Tô serves as public security minister. With him, the top leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam takes on a new face; now the National Assembly has to rubberstamp the party’s choice.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Vietnam’s National Security Minister Tô Lâm will be the country’s next president.

As the main architect of the ongoing "blazing furnace" anti-corruption campaign, Tô oversaw the resignation and arrest of thousands of party members; with the latest changes, the top leadership of the ruling Communist Party takes on a new face.

Once he is sworn into office, he will be the third person to hold this position in just over three years; his predecessor, Võ Văn Thưởng, was elected only a year earlier and resigned two months.

The National Assembly is set to convene this week to elect Tô after he was nominated on Saturday by the party's Central Committee along with the new chairman of the National Assembly.

In his new capacity, the 66-year-old Tô – Public Security minister since 2016 responsible for cracking down on human rights groups – could see his chances improve for the post of party general secretary when the mandate of the incumbent, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, expires in January 2026 (or sooner if he resigns).

Another important "succession" saw Trần Thanh Mẫn, the current deputy chairman of the National Assembly, Vietnam’s unicameral parliament, chosen to replace Vương Đình Huệ who resigned in late April over unspecified "violations and shortcomings”.

The four top positions in the Vietnamese state, which include that of prime minister, are now filled, giving the country a top leadership that is “truly united, truly exemplary, wholehearted and devoted to the common cause,” the central committee said in a statement.

This reflects a unique situation created by recent events. Ceremonial in role, the president is subordinate to the Communist Party general secretary, and its two latest office holders had to resign.

The Politburo lost members, from 18 to 12. Many resignations and dismissals were also reported in the Central Committee and several of its commissions. A prominent fall is that of Trương Thị Mai, who quit last Thursday.

Not only was she the first woman to become a permanent member of the Central Committee's Secretariat, a body of primary importance, second only to the "four main pillars", but also because she was touted, along with President-designate Tô Lâm and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, as a possible candidate for the post of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the next party congress, expected in early 2026.

• vietnam
• corruption
• blazing furnace
• campaign
• president
• national assembly
• speaker
• crackdown
• human rights