In recent weeks The Vietnamese government has been conducting a widespread anti-corruption crackdown. The head of the communist party, Nguyen Phu Trong, is driving this crackdown. According to an article by The Washington Post, two deputy prime ministers in Vietnam have resigned because their staff members have been detained on corruption charges. The allegations involve taking bribes during the COVID pandemic. One staff member was alleged to have taken bribes while purchasing COVID test kits, and another staff member was alleged to have taken an illegal payment from a transport company repatriating Vietnamese citizens who lived abroad. This is on top of a former deputy health minister being sentenced to four years in prison for being involved in a counterfeit medicine scheme.
Recently, an article by Aljazeera reported that the President of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned from his post after an internal Communist Party investigation. Phuc was said to have “taken political responsibility as leader when several officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, committed violations and shortcomings, causing very serious consequences .” An article in The Guardian stated that Phuc’s resignation might also be tied to political infighting in the Communist Party. It was also reported in an article by Radio Free Asia that the head of the agency related to vehicle registration was arrested on charges of taking bribes from the directors of regional vehicle registration centers across the country. It is clear that more high-profile names will likely be caught up in this mess.
Crispin Corruption Report 