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Vietnam
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Vietnam’s ‘blazing furnace’ corruption purge spotlights political tug of war, economic unease

  • A wide-ranging crackdown spearheaded by Vietnam’s Communist Party chief has claimed the scalp of a former president and shows no signs of stopping
  • The tussle at the top comes as Vietnam battles inflation and as fears of debt bubbles inside its property sector leave investors unsettled

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Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has led the anti-corruption efforts. Photo: AFP
Govi Snellin Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The downfall of Vietnam’s former president Nguyen Xuan Phuc over corruption links to a Covid-19 test kit tender played out in front of a public normally forbidden from examining the mechanics of the all-powerful Communist Party.
Now, as the anti-graft crackdown ricochets across the country, experts say it’s moving beyond the confines of party politics to chip away at confidence in the economy as technocrats are sidelined and officials become reluctant to sign off on new projects, fearing they too may fall under scrutiny.

Phuc resigned after the party accused him of “violations and wrongdoing” over his messy family ties to the Viet A Technology Corporation, which won a US$175 million procurement order for test kits at the height of the pandemic that allegedly spurred the embezzlement of millions of dollars of state money.

His demise has been swift, stunning and shared over social media by a public used to accepting, not debating, changes at the top of Vietnam’s one-party communist state.

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Vietnamese president Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigns amid major anti-corruption purge

Vietnamese president Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigns amid major anti-corruption purge

It was “the biggest political upheaval ever,” says 29-year-old Loan, a logistics worker in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Many people predicted that Mr. Phuc would resign … but I was quite surprised because it came quite quickly,” she said, using an alias for fear of repercussions in the tightly controlled country.

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