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Vo Van Thuong was elected as Vietnam’s 11th president this morning (Mar. 2) at the 15th National Assembly in Hanoi.

According to the Vietnamese Parliament's online portal cited by Reuters, Thuong was elected to the post with 98.38 per cent of the vote. He was earlier nominated by the Party Central Committee on Mar. 1.

At 52 years old, Thuong is the youngest member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which is the highest body of the Party, according to VN Express.

He is also the youngest Standing Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party since 1976.

Anti-corruption drive

Thuong will be replacing former president Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who resigned from his post on Jan. 14.

The ongoing crackdown on corruption in the country ousted Phuc in what the BBC saw as a power struggle at the top of Vietnamese politics.

In his first speech as President, Thuong expressed his commitment to the fight against corruption, saying that he will "strive to fulfil to the best of [his] abilities the responsibilities and missions entrusted by the Party, State, and the people," Vietnam News reported.

Notable figure

Thuong was a member of the 12th and 14th National Assembly of Vietnam and has been a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam since 2011.

He also holds a Master's degree in philosophy and an advanced degree in political theory.

According to an earlier report by Reuters, Thuong is also widely considered to have close relations with the Party’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is known as Vietnam's most powerful political figure.

Trong is the principal figure of Vietnam's ongoing “blazing furnace” anti-graft drive, under which many political figures have been investigated and ousted, Bloomberg reported.

While the role of president in Vietnam is mostly ceremonial, it is still one of the four most important political positions in the country.

The other positions are the Head of National Assembly, the General Secretary as well as the Prime Minister.

Strong bilateral ties

In September 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat met with Thuong during a visit to Vietnam, during which they reviewed the excellent bilateral and party-to-party ties between Singapore and Vietnam.

Thuong has also expressed his wish to visit Singapore, according to local media.

Vietnam's Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, previously made an official three-day visit to Singapore in February 2023 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between both countries.

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Top images via Facebook/The World & Vietnam Report & Wikipedia