Vietnamese police chief elected country’s new president

Vietnam's Public Security Minister Gen. and new President Tran Dai Quang. Pic: AP

 2nd April 2016 

THE VIETNAMESE government has elected its police chief to be the country’s newest president, taking on the nation’s number two post.

Public Security Minister Tran Dai Quang, 59, took the oath of office Saturday receiving the mandate from Vietnam’s National Assembly.

Tran was widely expected to become president after being re-elected to the Politburo, the powerful 19-member committee that effectively rules the country, at the Communist Party Congress in January.

At that January meeting, Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected to the top post of party general secretary.

In Vietnam, the president is the head of state and chief commander of the military, while the prime minister — to be chosen next week — oversees the economy.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press