Vietnam president resigns after corruption scandal

The president of Vietnam,Nguyen Xuan Phuc, presented his resignation from office after assuming responsibility for the involvement of senior members of his cabinet in a scandal ofbribes on repatriation flights during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Press media report that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of that Asian nation accepted the resignation this Tuesday.

The political group confirmed that the president also abandoned his corresponding positions in the Political Bureau and the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Phuc, 69, is the firstVietnamese president who leaves office before the end of his term, which began in 2021.

He was previously prime minister, for five years, and achieved great popularity for his management during the first year of the pandemic before becoming the country's president.

This Tuesday the Vietnamese media highlighted that although there were violations within the exercise as a public servant, the former president did a good job in confronting Covid-19.

Phuc took responsibility for the involvement of senior members of his cabinet in a bribery scandal on repatriation flights during that period, although some analysts call it "a covert dismissal."

The decision comes amid strong rumors about his departure from office in recent days and the resignation of hiscollaborators closest: Pham Minh Binh and Vu Duc Dam, who served as first vice ministers.

Some 40 officials, diplomats and businessmen have been prosecuted in the bribery scandal, and it is rumored that Phuc's wife is also involved.

Vietnam closed its borders in March 2020 and reopened them two years later. During that time, only national or foreign workers recognized by the authorities as expert labor could enter the country.

Also the Vietnamese who took advantage of the more than 800 repatriation flights organized by the authorities; but where thousands of citizens were excluded due to the difficulty in obtaining one of the places.

The high demand generated the emergence of networks ofcorruption that admitted bribes and that has unleashed the scandal.

On Wednesday the National Assembly must ratify the vice president, Vo Thi Anh Xuan, as the new president of the Asian nation. She will serve as head of state on an interim basis until the official appointment of assuming office as president of the National Security and Defense Council.