Key security agency will grow stronger in Vietnam

Significance

Phuc requested that he be allowed to resign, according to a statement issued after the Central Committee meeting which took place, but he was clearly forced from power. His ouster is linked to CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s anti-corruption campaign.

Impacts

• More high-profile individuals will be brought down, even if Phuc’s unseating marks the height of the anti-graft drive.
• Significant changes to domestic and foreign policy are unlikely but there will be some instability in government.
• The dismissal of competent government officials widely seen as reformist will alienate some Western investors.