Vietnam’s Top Security Official to Lam Confirmed as President

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To Lam takes his oath as Vietnam's President during the National Assembly's summer session in Hanoi on 22 May, 2024. Photo: Dang Anh, AFP.

BANGKOK (AP) — Vietnam’s top security official To Lam was confirmed Wednesday as the nation’s new president.

Lam was confirmed by Vietnam’s National Assembly after his predecessor resigned amid an ongoing anti-corruption campaign that has shaken the country’s political establishment and business elites and has resulted in multiple top-level changes in government.

Vietnam’s presidency is largely ceremonial, but his new role as head of state puts the 66-year-old in a “very strong position” to become the next Communist Party general secretary, the most important political position in the country, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.