On Tuesday, the Vietnamese Government announced the resignation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc amidst the country’s anti corruption campaign. The resignation comes after he was accused and blamed by the ruling communist party for “violations and wrongdoings” done by officials under him.
Phuc was the former prime minister, he was widely acclaimed for accelerating pro-business reforms. He was elected for the presidential post in 2021 and has held it since then.
Vietnam has four major pillars of officials in charge of the country: the party’s secretary, the president, prime minister and speaker of the house. With Phuc’s resignation, the highest-ranking official has been targeted by the party’s corruption crackdown campaign.
The Government states that the President is ultimately responsible for offenses committed by many officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers.
There have been speculations of Phuc’s removal from office since the beginning of this year. These speculations came after the dismissal of two deputy prime ministers who served under him.
The resignation requires approval from the legislature, which will be holding a rare extraordinary meeting for this purpose this week.
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