Vietnam president resigns over bribery scandal | World | T.W.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc “resigned from the positions he held, quit his job and retired,” state news agency VNA reported.

Phuc, 69, became the first president to leave office before the end of his term, which began two years ago, serving as prime minister for five years with great popularity for his first-year management of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Vietnam.

Such a sudden resignation is unusual in Vietnam, where the communist regime often carefully prepares political changes to give the appearance of stability.

According to the VNA agency, as part of an anti-corruption offensive, “Phuc assumed his political responsibilities as a leader after several high-ranking officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, committed violations and crimes that had serious consequences.” leading to the arrest of dozens of high-ranking officials.

Bribery scandal

Newspaper Tuoi Tre It noted that Phuc submitted his resignation after accepting responsibility for the involvement of senior officials in his cabinet in a bribery scandal involving repatriation flights during the pandemic.

According to most analysts, he resigned after strong rumors of his resignation, after some of his closest collaborators left the government and the party’s leading organizations: former deputy prime ministers Bam Min Binh and Vu Duc Dam.

Researcher Lu Hong Hib of the Yusuf Ishaq Institute noted in an article in the publication. Fulcrum Rumors spread on social media that Phuc’s wife was involved in the scandal, for which 40 government officials, diplomats and businessmen have been prosecuted.

Repatriation flights in covid pandemic

Since Vietnam closed its borders in March 2020, until it reopened two years later, only nationals or foreign workers approved by authorities used the more than 800 repatriation flights organized by skilled workers or Vietnamese authorities.

Difficulty getting a seat on these flights prevented thousands of citizens from returning to their country for months and fueled the appearance of corruption that led to the president’s ouster.

After Phuc’s resignation, the post of president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will fall, at least temporarily, to Vo Thi Anh Xuan, who has been vice president until now, and must be approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc has been the President of Vietnam since 2021. Prior to that, he was the Prime Minister since 2016.

rml (afp, efe)