Former president Nguyen Xuan Phuc formally hands over work

At the ceremony, Phuc, 69, said that as the prime minister during the 2016-2021 term, he was responsible for letting several officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, commit violations that caused severe consequences.

“Being aware of my responsibility to the Party and the people, I summitted a request to resign from all positions and to retire. During the extraordinary meetings of the Central Party Committee and the National Assembly, I had raised this issue unequivocally and clearly,” he said.

“My family, my wife and children did not earn personal gains or commit corruption related to Viet A, and have never met Viet A director, and these have been clearly concluded by the Central Inspection Commission,” Phuc said, referring to the test kit scandal of Viet A Technology Corporation that involved many government officials.

On January 17, the Central Party Committee agreed to let Phuc stop serving as a member of the Politburo and the committee, Vietnam’s president and chairman of the Council for National Defense and Security of the 2021-2026 term, upon his request.

A day later, the National Assembly dismissed Phuc from his positions per his request, and appointed the then Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan as the interim president.

Phuc was a member of the Central Party Committee, the Politburo and the National Assembly for multiple terms.

From 1997 to 2006, he was the chairman of the Quang Nam Province People’s Committee.

He was appointed head of the Government Office in 2006 and deputy prime minister in 2011, before becoming the prime minister five years later.

He was voted president in April 2021.