Vietnamese Parliament Speaker Vuong Dinh Hue has resigned over his “violations and shortcomings,” his government announced on Friday, a brand new sign of political turmoil just weeks after the high-profile resignation of the country’s president.
The head of the assembly is one in all the 4 “pillars” of leadership in Vietnam, which officially has no paramount ruler.
Hue, 67, was touted as a possible candidate for the post of secretary of the Communist Party, a very powerful position in Vietnam.
“Comrade Vuong Dinh Hue’s violations and shortcomings have caused negative public opinion, affecting the status of the party, the state and him personally,” says the federal government website, which incorporates a press release from the Communist Party Central Committee.
The fall of a Vietnamese political star shocks the nation: “Who will probably be the subsequent president?”
The fall of a Vietnamese political star shocks the nation: “Who will probably be the subsequent president?”
The statement said his resignation had been accepted and he can be faraway from the Central Committee and the powerful Politburo. It was not indicated what these violations were.
Hue was seen earlier on Friday with the prime minister at a ceremony ahead of next week’s forty ninth anniversary of the top of the Vietnam War and the unification of North and South Vietnam under communist rule.
His resignation comes just days after it was announced that his assistant had been arrested in reference to alleged bribery involving an infrastructure company.
“The Burning Furnace”
Hundreds of senior government officials and top businessmen have been prosecuted or forced to resign as a part of a multi-year anti-corruption campaign generally known as the “burning furnace”.
The latest change in Vietnam’s top leadership could raise latest concerns about political stability within the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub, which relies heavily on foreign investment and trade.
What’s Behind Vietnam’s ‘Burning Furnace’ Corruption Purge?
What’s Behind Vietnam’s ‘Burning Furnace’ Corruption Purge?
The departure of Hue, an economist by training and former deputy prime minister who previously served because the state’s chief auditor, follows the dismissal in March of President Vo Van Thuong after the Communist Party said he had violated party rules.
Thuong was the second president to step down in only over a 12 months, prompting many commentators to warn that prolonged internal conflicts could impact the country’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
A survey of greater than 650 business leaders conducted by foreign chambers of commerce in Vietnam and published in March found that foreign corporations are interested in the country mainly for its political stability.
Hue met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 8 during a week-long visit to China, and while abroad in Vietnam, rumors spread that his assistant had been arrested. The arrest was announced two weeks later.
In early April, real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death for her role in a multibillion-dollar financial fraud that went on for years and turned a blind eye to many senior officials.
