Vietnamese domestic politics is in the midst of an unusually tumultuous period that has seen the resignation of two presidents over the past 15 months, and now the resignation of Vuong Dinh Hue, the chairperson of the country’s National Assembly.
All of these officials have fallen victim to the country’s intensifying anti-corruption campaign, which has led to a major blood-letting at the upper echelons of the Vietnamese government and ruling Communist Party. There have been hundreds of arrests and thousands of dismissals and reprimands. As a result of the campaign, two of the top four most powerful political positions in Vietnam are now vacant, as are five of the 18 positions on the Communist Party Politburo, the country’s top decision-making body.
And there is no clear end to the political upheaval, with factions and individuals now jockeying to fill the vacant posts – and seek advantage ahead of the next Communist Party Congress due in early 2026, when Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of the party and driving force behind the anti-corruption campaign, is due to retire.
To explore the current happenings in Vietnam, and the country’s domestic political trajectory, The Diplomat’s Sebastian Strangio speaks with Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.