Vietnam elects new President

In mid-January, shortly before the traditional Vietnamese New Year festival of Tet, news of the resignation of former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc drew some political attention to the one-party state, which is otherwise characterized by political stability and economic dynamism. The resignation of the president, apparently in the context of an anti-corruption campaign, made it necessary to appoint a new head of state. On March 2, Vietnam's National Assembly confirmed 52-year-old Vo Van Thuong as the new president with 487 out of 488 votes in an extraordinary session. Thuong, a dyed-in-the-wool communist, is said to be a confidant of Nguyen Phu Trong, the 78-year-old general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).