Russia’s TASS news agency reported President Vladimir Putin congratulated Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong.
Under the title “Vietnam parliament elects Communist Party chief as President”, the AP news agency of the US reported that Vietnam's rubber stamp National Assembly elected Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the country's President on Tuesday, consolidating his influence as the most powerful man in the Southeast Asian nation.
The 74-year-old man is the first Vietnamese leader to hold the two positions since founding President Ho Chi Minh in the 1960s.
The AP quoted a number researchers’ comments that under the leadership of General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s economy policies will be maintained.
The article also extracted Trong’s biography that he was elected to the all-powerful Politburo in 1997, serving as the Communist Party chief of Hanoi and chairman of the National Assembly before being promoted to general secretary in 2011. He was re-elected to another five-year term in January 2016.
The AP’s article was also re-published on New York Times and The Washington Post.
*** On the same day, Xinhua news agency of China also ran an article titled “Vietnamese party chief elected country’s President”.
The article reported that Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), on Tuesday was elected President of Vietnam at the ongoing sixth session of the 14th National Assembly of Vietnam, the country's top legislature.
After being elected President, Trong on Tuesday afternoon took the oath, which was broadcast live by Vietnam's National Television VTV and Radio the Voice of Vietnam.
The article also quoted Trong’s address when taking the oath that he was both happy and worried. "I am happy because I have been trusted and loved by the National Assembly and assigned tasks. I am worried about how to fulfill the heavy tasks before the country.”
*** Meanwhile, Prensa Latina news agency of Cuba also reported the Vietnamese NA’s election of Nguyen Phu Trong as new President through a secret vote.
It noted that First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raul Modesto Castro Ruz and President of the Cuban Council of Ministers Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez sent messages of congratulations to Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.
*** Russia’s TASS news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, saying his election showed Trong’s prestige earned through his Party and State positions, as well as the recognition of his contributions to completing socio-economic tasks and reinforcing Vietnam’s global status.
*** Japanese Asia Nikkei news agency also published an article titled “Vietnam Party chief Trong formally named President”. Vietnamese lawmakers elected Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong as President, making him the first leader to hold both titles since the nation's founder, Ho Chi Minh.
According to the article, on October 23rd, the second day of the National Assembly's month long session, 476 members of parliament voted for Trong, with one objecting. He took an oath of office after the result was announced.
The article praised Trong who became party leader in 2011. It noted that during his tenure, he has headed an anti-corruption campaign, and further quoted a comment of Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, saying that the scope and intensity of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s anti-corruption and party-building campaigns will increase.
*** The DPA News Agency of Germany also released an article on October 23rd that in a 476-1 vote, the Vietnam National Assembly elected General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the presidency.
According to the DPA, under Trong’s leadership, the Party has embraced free trade agreements, including the defunct Trans-pacific Partnership, and the party leader is considered cautiously open to greater economic reforms./.