HANOI (AFP) -
Lawmakers
in communist Vietnam approved a top police general for the role of
president on Saturday, making the head of a controversial domestic
security force one of the country's most high profile politicians.
Tran
Dai Quang won 91.5 percent of the votes during a ballot at the rubber
stamp parliament early Saturday, having been nominated by party
officials for the largely ceremonial role during the five-yearly
Communist Party Congress in January.
Vietnam is in the midst of a
leadership handover, with communist leader Nguyen Phu Trong reelected in
January as party secretary general in a victory for the party's old
guard.
One of President Quang's first duties will be to receive
his US counterpart Barack Obama, as Hanoi seeks closer ties with its
former wartime adversary in the face of Beijing's rising assertiveness
within the contested South China Sea.
"I sincerely thank the
National Assembly for electing me," Quang said as he was sworn in
according to a media officer at the parliament, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Authoritarian Vietnam is run by the Communist Party
and officially led by a triumvirate of party secretary general,
president, and prime minister, with key decisions being made by the
19-member politburo.
Reformist Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung lost
out in internal party elections and is due to step down next week, when
the National Assembly will vote on his replacement.
This is expected to be Nguyen Xuan Phuc, currently a deputy prime minister, state media said.
In
the past, the leadership handover was decided at the party congress but
took up to six months to be confirmed by the National Assembly.
Analysts
say this year things have moved more quickly, partly because several
top leaders are retiring from politics, and also because of an upcoming
visit by Obama in May.
Quang, 59 and a career policeman, rose the ranks within the country's Ministry of Public Security.
His election marks the first time a police general has been made president, said Le Hien Duc, 84, an anti-corruption activist.
"He worked for forty years as a top security leader in the police force," she said.
Vietnam's
Ministry of Public Security is a powerful body with sweeping powers
including intelligence gathering and protecting the party from perceived
threats, both domestic and overseas.
It has been the focus of
criticism from rights groups and Western governments, who regularly urge
Vietnam to improve its rights record and stop heavy-handed persecutions
of regime critics.
"It's too early to say anything about Quang
who still lacks experience in foreign policy and the economy," said Army
Colonel Tran Thanh Trung, 65.
"I don't expect big changes," he added.
© 2016 AFP
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