Vietnam’s Parliament on Wednesday voted in favour of the public security minister To Lam to become the country’s new President, after a major anti-corruption campaign forced his predecessor to resign.
Lam,66, oversaw police and intelligence operations over a period when rights groups said basic liberties were systematically suppressed, and its secret service was accused of violating international law, PTI reported.
He has been public security minister since 2016 and has taken a hard line on human rights movements in the communist country.
In his first remarks as President as well, Lam said he was “determined to fight corruption and negative phenomena”, AFP reported.
Lam takes over from Vo Van Thuong, who resigned in March over what the party called “violations and shortcomings”, after just a year in the job.
The National Assembly elects the president by secret ballot, with deputies then approving the results. Lam carried 472 of 473 votes.
Led by the Communist Party general secretary, Vietnam has a four-person leadership structure that also includes the president, prime minister and head of the National Assembly.
Vietnam’s presidency is largely ceremonial, but his new role as head of state puts the 66-year-old in a “very strong position” to become the next Communist Party general secretary, the most important political position in the country, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, PTI reported.
Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to a third term in 2021, but at age 80, he may not seek another term after 2026.
Trong is an ideologue who views corruption as the gravest threat facing the party. As Vietnam’s top security official, Lam has led Trong’s sweeping anti-graft campaign.
Lam spent more than four decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming the minister in 2016. His rise took place while Vietnam’s politburo lost six of its 18 members amid the expanding anti-graft campaign, including two former presidents and Vietnam’s parliamentary head.
Lam was behind many of the investigations into high-profile politicians, said Giang.
Meanwhile, Giang said, “Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is seen as the other major contender to possibly succeed Trong.”
Political upheavel in Vietnam
On Monday, Tran Thanh Man, 61 was nominated as the new head of the National Assembly, and the party has appointed four new politburo members.
Political upheaval is uncommon in Vietnam, and for years all changes were carefully managed with an emphasis on cautious stability.
However, in the past 18 months, Vietnam has also seen the resignations of the deputy prime minister and the head of the party’s economic commission, while its once 18-strong parliament briefly fell to 12 members.
Former president Vo Van Thuong’s predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, also resigned during that window.