The Communist Party of Vietnam announced on Wednesday that it had accepted the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong.
The government said in a statement that Thuong had violated party rules and that these “shortcomings have negatively affected public opinion and damaged the reputation of the party, the state and himself”.
“Vo Van Thuong’s violations and shortcomings have negatively affected public opinion and the reputation of the Party and the State,” the Party’s Central Committee said in a statement based on the inspection commission’s report. In recognition of his responsibilities to the Party, State and people, Thuong has tendered his resignation.
The Central Committee, the highest decision-making body in Communist Party-ruled Vietnam, accepted Thuong’s resignation almost a year after he was elected.
The president’s role is largely ceremonial, but it is one of the four most senior political positions in the Southeast Asian country.
The committee meeting came ahead of an extraordinary session of the Vietnamese parliament scheduled for Thursday, when lawmakers are expected to approve the party’s decisions. The National Assembly will hold an extraordinary session to decide on the presidency.
Anti-corruption campaign
The major leadership changes are believed to be linked to a recent sweeping anti-corruption campaign aimed at rooting out widespread corruption.
Thuong, 53, resigned days after Vietnamese police announced that the former head of central Vietnam’s Quang Ngai province, who served when Thuong was party chief, had been arrested for alleged corruption a decade ago.
Thuong was seen as close to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s most powerful figure and the chief architect of the anti-corruption campaign.
When former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned last year after the party accused him of “violations and misconduct” by officials under his control, it took lawmakers a month and a half to appoint Thuong as his successor.
During his tenure as president, Thuong made more than 10 trips and visits to international leaders. During his visit to Japan in November last year, Vietnam and Japan upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The fall in the stock market
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the country’s main bourse, fell nearly 3% in the first hours of trading on Monday after reports circulated that the president would soon resign.
Thuong’s dismissal could lead to a further slowdown in policy and administrative decisions as officials become more concerned about the direction of the anti-corruption campaign, but Vietnam’s stance on key policies will not change, a Vietnamese official who advises foreign companies told Reuters.
