To Lam, retired top police officer, former minister of public security, has been sworn in as the 13th president of Vietnam.
Lam was elected by the Vietnamese parliament as the state president, a position which will ultimately lead him to become the chief of the ruling communist party.
The 66 year old election was in line with normal procedures in the tightly-controlled one-party state, lawmakers voted unanimously on a resolution that approved Lam’s election after a secret ballot about him, the only candidate for the job.
As head of the public security ministry, Lam has been a crucial figure in a sweeping anti-graft campaign, known as “blazing furnace”, which is aimed at rooting out widespread corruption but has also been seen by critics as a tool to sideline opponents during political infighting.
After his election, Lam told lawmakers he would “resolutely and persistently continue the fight against corruption”.
The state president holds a largely ceremonial role but is one of the country’s top four political positions, the so-called ‘four pillars’. The others are the party chief, the prime minister and the parliament speaker.
