In a unexpected turn of events, Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the job, the Communist Party said Wednesday, making him the latest senior official to leave office amid an intense anti-corruption campaign. The Vietnamese Communist Party on Wednesday accepted the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong, the government said in a statement citing" shortcomings", in a sign of political turmoil that could hurt foreign investors' confidence in the country.
The government said in a statement Thuong violated party rules, adding that those "shortcomings had negatively impacted public opinion, affecting the reputation of the Party, State and him personally. "The Central Party Committee, a top decision-making body in Communist Party-ruled Vietnam, approved Thuong's resignation just about a year after his election. Thuong, 54, became president in March 2023, two months after his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned to take “political responsibility” for corruption scandals during the pandemic. He was the youngest president since modern day Vietnam emerged from war in the mid-1970s.The position of president in Vietnam is largely ceremonial and ranks third in the country’s political hierarchy.