The Vietnamese President, Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned from office, according to state media on Tuesday, January 17, after days of rumors swirling that he was going to be sacked as part of a major anti-corruption drive that has seen several ministers fired.
Phuc’s sudden exit from seat is a highly unusual move in a communist country like
Vietnam, where political changes are normally carefully orchestrated, with regard to
cautious stability.
Meanwhile, State media state the communist party had ruled that he (Phuc) was
responsible for wrongdoing by senior ministers under him during his 2016-2021 stint as the Vietnam prime minister before he became president.
Also, just this January, two deputy prime ministers have been sacked in an anti-
corruption purge that has led to the arrest of several officials, with a lot of the graft
allegations relating to deals concluded as part of Vietnam’s Covid pandemic response.
Not less than 100 officials and business people have been arrested in connection with a scandal involving the distribution of Covid-19 testing kits in 2020.
