The National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, elected Nguyen Minh Triet as state president on Tuesday morning.
Over 94 percent of all NA deputies voted for Triet, member of the Political Bureau under the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) and secretary of the Party committee of southern Ho Chi Minh City.
Triet, born in 1942 in southern Binh Duong Province, currently holds a bachelor degree on mathematics and another on high-level political theory from the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy. He joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1965.
Triet, who participated in revolutionary activities in the South of Vietnam between 1960 and 1970, held the post of secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in the 1975-1987 period, deputy secretary and then secretary of the Party committee of southern Song Be Province from 1988 to 1996.
Triet became deputy secretary of the Party committee of Ho Chi Minh City in 1997, and secretary of the committee in 2000. He has been member of the Political Bureau since 1998.
Between 1998 and 1999, Triet acted as chairman of the CPVCC's Commission for Mass Mobilization.
On Monday, the legislature selected Nguyen Phu Trong, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Party committee of Hanoi capital city, as the NA chairman.
On the same day, the NA approved the resignations of State President Tran Duc Luong (born in 1937), Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (1933) and NA Chairman Nguyen Van An (1937). At the weekend, they officially submitted their resignations due to age factor, paving the way for a new generation of younger leaders.
Newly elected Vietnamese president proposes new PM
Triet on Tuesday morning proposed Nguyen Tan Dung for the post of prime minister, said a local official.
The NA is scheduled to vote for Dung, who is member of the Political Bureau and deputy prime minister, on Tuesday afternoon, the official from the NA office said.
Dung, born in 1949 in southern Ca Mau Province, holds a bachelor degree on law and another on high-level political theory from the Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2006)
