Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has been forced to resign over the alleged involvement of his wife and relatives in high-profile corruption scandals. This was reported by CNA citing its sources.

According to the publication, Phuc's wife Tran Thi Nguyet Thu and his in-laws were allegedly involved in a $170 million fraud related to COVID-19 test kits.

In official statements, the party did not mention the corruption issue because they want to save face and protect the reputation of the party, said Le Hong Hiep, a senior researcher and coordinator of the Vietnamese Studies Program at the Yusof Ishak Institute.

The corruption scandal involves locally produced COVID-19 test kits, which were sold to hospitals and disease control and prevention centers at inflated prices. As a result of the investigation, two deputy prime ministers and two ministers have already resigned.

The paper also notes that the main contender for president of Vietnam after Phuc's resignation is 65-year-old Vietnam's Minister of Public Security Tho Lam.

On January 18, the Vietnamese National Assembly approved President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's petition to resign from his post during an extraordinary meeting. Nguyen Xuan Phuc officially stepped down nearly two years after being elected. The 69-year-old politician became the first head of Vietnam to resign in 47 years.

Information that the Vietnamese president resigned as early as January 17.