Vietnam votes in public security minister as president

HANOI, Vietnam

Vietnam’s rubber-stamp parliament voted in public security minister, To Lam, as the country’s new president on Wednesday, after a major anti-corruption campaign forced his predecessor to resign.

In a secret ballot, 472 of 473 National Assembly deputies voted to approve the nomination, according to state television.

Thousands of people — including several senior government and business leaders — have been caught up in the Southeast Asian country’s “blazing furnace” crackdown on graft, led by Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Lam takes over from Vo Van Thuong, who resigned in March over what the party called “violations and shortcomings”.

That came just a year after Thuong began his presidency, declaring he was “determined in the fight against corruption and negative phenomena”.

Lam, 66, has been public security minister since 2016 and has taken a hard line on human rights movements in the communist country.

It had appeared he was set to hold the presidency and his position at the Ministry of Public Security concurrently, which would have been a first for Vietnam.

But hours before the secret ballot, parliamentarians agreed they would dismiss him from the powerful role.