Vietnam names acting president after legislature votes to remove Thuong

Vice-President Vo Thi Anh Xuan has been appointed as acting head of state in Vietnam. - Vietnam News/ANN

HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's legislature has appointed Vice-President Vo Thi Anh Xuan as acting head of state, after President Vo Van Thuong became the latest top official to fall amid an intensified corruption crackdown by the ruling Communist Party.

Thuong, 53, was removed from the powerful Politburo for unspecified violations of party rules, becoming the second president to exit in just over a year in Vietnam, where leadership changes have recently all been linked to a wide-ranging "blazing furnace" anti-bribery campaign.