Hanoi, Apr. 26, (dpa/GNA) – The chair of Vietnam’s National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue resigned from office, a government statement said on Friday, as the single-party state where shakeups are rare, took the unprecedented step of ousting three top leaders in just over a year.
Hue’s resignation was confirmed following a special meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). During the session, it was agreed that Hue would leave office and lose his position in the Politburo, the most powerful body of the Communist Party.
The statement released by the Central Committee said Hue had violated party regulations in a way that affected the reputation of the party, the state and himself. On Monday, Hue’s assistant Pham Thai Ha was also arrested, over alleged power abuse, according to state media reports.
Although one of Vietnam’s top four leadership roles, the role of National Assembly chair is considered one of the least influential among the key leadership. The general secretary of the Communist Party, currently occupied by Nguyen Phu Trong, is the most powerful position in the country.
Former Vietnamese president Vo Van Thuong resigned in March this year, while his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc was ousted in January 2023. The leaders lost their positions amid a sweeping graft crackdown, enacted by Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in 2016, which has seen thousands of people indicted.
On 12 April, business tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death for her role in a 304-trillion-dong ($12.5 billion) financial fraud, the country’s biggest on record.
GNA