Former State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc decided to resign and retire as he was fully aware of his responsibilities before the Party and the people when a number of officials under him committed violations during his stint as prime minister in 2016-2021.

The ex-President made the statement at an office handover ceremony held this afternoon, February 4, at the State President’s Office in Hanoi, the local media reported.

The Party and the State had approved his request to pull out of all his posts, Phuc said, adding that he expressed his gratitude to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the other Party top officials, the State, centrally-run agencies, localities and others for providing tremendous support to him, enabling him to fulfill his assigned duties.

Phuc also recalled the time when he worked with the officials and employees at the State President’s Office, describing it as a beautiful memory while he was in office.

Phuc was quoted by the Lao Dong newspaper website as saying: “My family, my wife, and my children neither made illicit gains nor got involved in the corruption case in connection with the Viet A (Covid-19 test kit price gauging) case. They never met the Viet A director. This was concluded by the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee.”

Nguyen Xuan Phuc served as State President of Vietnam for almost 21 months, from April 5, 2021 to January 18, 2023.