General To Lam elected Vietnam State President

General To Lam, a Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, has been elected by Vietnam's National Assembly as the country's State President.

With "yes" votes from 472 delegates out of the total 473 attending, the National Assembly, the country's highest legislative body, on Wednesday passed a resolution on To Lam’s election as State President for the 2021-2026 tenure, following the Party Central Committee's nomination last Saturday.

The nomination followed the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong on March 20.

To Lam, born in 1957, is a Party Central Committee member for its 11th-13th tenures and a Politburo member for its 12th-13th tenures. He is also a National Assembly member for its 14th-15th terms. He was Deputy Minister of Public Security from 2010-2016; and Minister of Public Security from April 2016.

Vietnam's last two presidents, both for the 2021-2026 tenure – Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vo Van Thuong – left their positions early. Phuc, elected in April 2021, left in January 2023; while Thuong held office from March 2023-March 2024.

Previously, on Monday, Tran Thanh Man, a Politburo member and standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, was elected the legislative body's Chairman.

Last Saturday, the Party Central Committee agreed to relieve Truong Thi Mai of her position as permanent member of the committee's Secretariat per her proposal, and appointed General Luong Cuong, Politburo member and head of the General Department of Politics under the Vietnam People's Army to replace her. The Politburo is Vietnam's highest decision-making body.

The committee elected four additional members to the Politburo, namely Le Minh Hung, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, head of the Party Central Committee's Organization Commission and chief of the Party Central Committee Office; Nguyen Trong Nghia, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Information and Education; Bui Thi Minh Hoai, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Party Central Committee's Mass Mobilization Commission; and Do Van Chien, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.

The committee also stripped Le Thanh Hai, former Politburo member, former Ho Chi Minh City Party chief, and former chairman of the metropolis, of all Party positions.

Secretary of the Bac Giang provincial Party Committee Duong Van Thai and former minister and head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung were expelled from the Party.