Vietnam President resigns after one year on the job; government says ‘shortcomings impacted public opinion’

Vietnam's President, Vo Van Thuong, resigned as the government in a statement citing “shortcomings”, in a sign of political turmoil for the country

The Vietnamese Communist Party on March 20 accepted the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong, the government said in a statement citing "shortcomings", in a sign of political turmoil that could hurt foreign investors' confidence in the country.

The government said in a statement Mr. Thuong violated party rules, adding that those "shortcomings had negatively impacted public opinion, affecting the reputation of the Party, State and him personally."

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The Central Party Committee, a top decision-making body in Communist Party-ruled Vietnam, approved Mr. Thuong's resignation just about a year after his election.

The President holds a largely ceremonial role but is one of the top four political positions in the Southeast Asian nation.

The committee's meeting preceded an extraordinary session of Vietnam's rubber-stamping parliament scheduled on Thursday, when deputies are expected to confirm the party's decisions.

Major leadership changes in the one-party state have recently been all linked to the wide-ranging "blazing furnace" anti-bribery campaign, which is aimed at stamping out widespread corruption, but is also suspected by critics to be a tool for political infighting.