Vietnam’s president stepped down and was ousted from the Communist Party’s top bodies in an unparalleled shakeup, as leader Nguyen Phu Trong’s anti-corruption purge casts an ever-widening net.
The party’s central committee approved Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s request to resign from all his positions, including member of the Politburo and president, according to a statement on the Communist Party’s website.
Phuc, 68, was elected president by the National Assembly in April 2021 after serving a five-year term as prime minister, the other one of Vietnam’s four most powerful positions.
His ouster comes shortly after two deputy premiers — former top diplomat Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, who led the response to Covid-19 — resigned to take responsibility for bribery investigations tied to repatriation flights and a manufacturer of Covid-19 test kits, respectively.
As prime minister, Phuc had success leading the nation’s fight against Covid-19, according to the statement. Nonetheless,
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