Following the instructions of party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, corruption investigations against high-ranking officials dating back to the hot phase of the corona pandemic have been ongoing for months. On the one hand, there is the sale of corona tests at significantly inflated prices, on the other hand, there is bribery in the repatriation of Vietnamese citizens after the borders are closed.
More than 100 high-ranking officials, including the health minister and the mayor of Hanoi, have already been arrested. In January, parliament removed the two deputy heads of government, Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, from their posts. Minh was also foreign minister, Dam was responsible for the fight against the corona virus.
An official statement said: “Aware of his responsibility to the party and the people, Phuc has filed a motion to resign from his posts and is retiring.” It was not yet known who would succeed him. Phuc has ruled Vietnam since April 2021. Prior to that, he was Prime Minister for five years. According to state media, the party blamed the 68-year-old for misconduct by members of his cabinet when he was prime minister. With his resignation, Phuc took responsibility for his “violations and mistakes, which had very serious consequences,” the VNA said, citing a Central Committee statement.
According to expert Hong Hiep of the SEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, Phuc’s resignation could also be related to power struggles within the CP. Although the move is mainly to do with corruption investigations, it cannot be ruled out that “Phuc’s rivals also wanted to remove him from office for political reasons”, Hiep told the AFP news agency.
He referred to the upcoming resignation of party leader Trong in 2026. With Phuc’s political end, a candidate to succeed Trong is eliminated, Hiep said. The expert nominated the current Minister of Public Security, To Lam, as one of the candidates for the presidency. With the change at the top of the state, however, little is likely to change, as the most important policy decisions in Vietnam are often taken by the current 16 members of the powerful Politburo, Hiep said.