Vietnam’s Communist Party has nominated Vo Van Thuong, 52, as the country’s next president, according to sources. The decision was made by the party’s Central Committee and was confirmed by two party sources to the Reuters news agency. Thuong is the youngest member of the 16-member Politburo, the country’s top decision-making body, and is seen as being close to the Communist Party of Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow and coordinator of the Vietnam Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that there had been speculation in recent days that Vo Van Thuong would be named a candidate for state president. Thuong currently holds the post of secretary of the party’s Central Committee, which is one of the highest-ranking positions in the country. He is also seen as an ally of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, who is reportedly a favorite to succeed Trong in the top party job.
The nomination of Thuong as president is seen as an attempt to advance a new generation of leaders and consolidate power in case Trong decides to step down before his third term ends in 2026. Hanoi-based diplomats told Reuters news agency that they believe this is Trong’s way of ensuring that he has an acceptable successor in the mix.
Thuong’s nomination will need approval by the National Assembly, which is due to hold an extraordinary session on Thursday and a formal sitting in May. Carl Thayer, an expert in Vietnam’s politics at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, said that Thuong is a “dyed-in-the-wool party apparatchik and a trusted member of Secretary General Trong’s inner circle”.
The nomination follows the forced resignation of Vietnam’s former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in January as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign in the country. This campaign was led by Trong, who is Vietnam’s most powerful figure and the main architect of the ongoing “blazing furnace” crackdown on corruption. Hundreds of officials have been investigated and many forced to quit their jobs as a result.