Vietnam’s former top censor is the country's new president
The National Assembly voted 487 out of 488 to elect 52-year-old Vo Van Thuong to replace his predecessor who failed to adequately fight corruption. Close to Nguyen Phu Trong, the very powerful Communist Party’s boss, he is expected to continue to purge the party of those elements who profiteered from the pandemic.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – With today's vote in the National Assembly, Vietnam has a new president. In his first statement as head of state, Vo Van Thuong, 52, said that the changing of the guard marked a new step to further implement the Communist Party’s commitment to restore morality and legality.
Thuong’s election follows a period of political uncertainty and tensions within the party that led to the purge of several ministers, accused of extensive corruption.
His predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, was forced to resign last January for failing to identify and punish some ministers for their wrongdoings. Elected in April 2021, Nguyen had also served five years as prime minister of Vietnam (2016–2021),
Thuong, who got 487 votes out of 488, will complete his predecessor’s term in office until 2026, “determined in the fight against corruption and negative phenomena".
As president, he will be one of the three topmost office holders in the country along with Nguyen Phu Trong, the powerful general secretary of the Communist Party, and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính.
Thuong is close to the general secretary and backs his fight against the malfeasance that has eroded the credibility of the party and government institutions.
In recent months, scores of officials have been arrested for profiteering from deals made during the campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thuong seems ideal for the job since he will continue the party’s policies as he did in other posts he previously held, such as deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Corruption and Negative Phenomena since 2021, and head of the party's central propaganda department, a position with a powerful hold over old and new media.
The watchwords in this complex phase in the history of the country, still uncertain over development and growth, are continuity and stability, this despite the fact that Vietnam has overcome the worst phases of the pandemic with less difficulty than others.
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