Vietnam nominates its public security minister as new president
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has nominated its Public Security Minister To Lam as its new president, state media said on Saturday, after his predecessor resigned in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign that has shaken up the country’s political establishment.
The Communist Party’s Central Committee had agreed to the nomination of To Lam, a Politburo member, as president, state-run Vietnam News Agency reported. The nomination will likely be approved by Vietnam’s rubber-stamp National Assembly during its next session on Monday.
Former President Vo Van Thuong resigned in March after a little over a year in the position. His predecessor had also resigned in 2023 while taking “political responsibility” for corruption scandals during the pandemic.
The anti-graft campaign is being led by Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 79, an ideologue who views graft as the gravest threat facing the party. The country’s most powerful politician has vowed that no one is untouchable in the so-called “blazing furnace” campaign.