Party and State leaders congratulated Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng (second from left) on his State President tenure as he was relieved from the post on Friday after National Assembly cast secret votes on his dismissal. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly on Friday voted to pass a resolution officially relieving Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng from the State Presidency.

A total of 438 legislators out of the 440 present at the 11th plenary session of the 14th-tenure parliament voted in favour of the resolution or 91.25 per cent. One voted against the resolution and one abstained.

The candidate nominated to replace Trọng is Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, who was also relieved from his Prime Minister post earlier in the morning.

NA legislators discussed in groups on Friday afternoon the nomination and will conduct a vote on the new State President on Monday when the session resumes after the weekend break.

Addressing legislators, NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ said that over the last two years, Party General Secretary Trọng also carried out the duties of the State Presidency since the death of the previous President Trần Đại Quang in September 2018.

This is equal parts an honour and onerous responsibility before the Party and the people, but the General Secretary dedicated all his efforts for the development of the country and outstandingly fulfilled his role, he said.

“On behalf of the National Assembly, we would like to thank and wish the General Secretary to be always healthy, and to accompany Politburo, the Party Secretariat, the Party Central Committee, Party leaders, State and the people on the path of making the country grow rapidly and sustainably", NA Chairman Huệ said.

Nguyễn Phú Trọng, born in 1944 in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội, and majored in philology, became the Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Review, the theoretical journal of the Party, in 1991 after working there since 1968.

In January 1994, he was elected as a member of the Party Central Committee.

Trọng has been elected as Party leader for three consecutive five-year terms since 2011, member of the Politburo for six consecutive terms since 1996, and an NA deputy for four consecutive terms since 2002.

His most important legacy at the helm of the Communist Party of Việt Nam is a well-received anti-corruption drive that has seen various senior Party members and officials trialled and jailed in high-profile economic mismanagement cases, along with the commitment to Party building to restore the Party’s integrity and discipline. — VNS