Vuong Dinh Hue, Speaker of the National Assembly of Vietnam. Yonhap AP News
Vietnam’s political world is in turmoil as two of the four major figures who support Vietnam’s political power have resigned about five weeks apart. There are concerns that as Vietnam’s political stability is shaken, it will have a negative impact on the economy.
According to Nikkei Asia and Associated Press on the 27th (local time), the Speaker of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, fourth in the hierarchy of power in Vietnam, resigned the day before on accusations of corruption. The Communist Party of Vietnam did not specify the specific charges against him, but stated in its investigation that “Hue violated party rules, which affected the reputation of the party, the country, and himself.” It was later reported that the chairman had accepted his resignation. A few days before his resignation, his assistant was charged and detained on charges of accepting bribes from a company.
Chairman Hue’s resignation comes about five weeks after former President Vo Van Thuong resigned. Last month, former President Thuong was also involved in a corruption scandal and resigned after just one year in office, becoming the country’s shortest-serving president. At the time, the Communist Party said that Chairman Thuong “broke the regulations on what a party member should not do and failed to set an example.” “It caused negative public opinion and had a negative impact on the reputation of the party, the country, and us,” he said.
Chairman Hue was mentioned as the successor to Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. As he is considered a strong candidate for the current vacancy as State President and the next General Secretary, his resignation is expected to lead to a number of implications.
In particular, it is assessed that the ‘four pillars’ that support Vietnam’s political power have been shaken, and the political stability that Vietnam boasts has been shaken. Vietnam promotes a collective leadership system, with power shared between the General Secretary of the Communist Party, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the National Assembly. As a result of the anti-corruption crackdown, three people resigned within a year, starting with former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc last year. Later, the chairman resigned, leaving two of the four pillars vacant. Of the 18 members of the Politburo, the core power body, only 13 remain.
Citizens on motorbikes pass in front of the National Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam on the 26th (local time). EPAYonhap news
“The dismissal of three top leaders in just one year shows that the once-stable political environment is extremely uncertain,” Nguyen Kak Giang, a researcher at the Yusof Isaac Institute in Singapore, told the AP. He added, “The fall of Hue (who was considered Trong’s successor) will further deepen Vietnam’s succession crisis.”
The justification was to ‘eliminate corruption’, but there were also interpretations that it was actually a fight between political factions. As it is difficult for 81-year-old General Secretary Trong to run for a second term, the competition for his successor has intensified, and whistle-blowing has become more active ahead of the party congress in 2026 “The current anti-corruption fight is increasingly becoming a form of factional warfare,” Futaba Ishizuka, a researcher at the Japan Research Institute for Economic Development, told Nikkei Asia.
There are also concerns about the direction of Vietnam’s economy. Chairman Hue is considered an expert in economics, having previously served as an economist and Finance Minister. Assessment, with his resignation, has been short of economic experts within the Communist Party.
Above all, the replacement of higher power is often likely to have a negative impact on investment. In a survey conducted on 650 foreign companies operating in Vietnam, political stability was identified as the biggest reason why foreign companies are attracted to Vietnam. Researcher Ishizuka said, “Foreign governments and investors will inevitably become increasingly concerned (about the successive resignations).”
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