Socialist Republic of Vietnam

President Nguyen Minh Triet, who last month became the first Vietnamese head of state to visit the US, was re-elected Tuesday by the country's lawmaking National Assembly.

Triet, 64, won nearly 99 percent of the votes cast by 493 newly elected legislators, said Vu Duc Manh, director of the National Assembly's Information Center.

"This is an honor, but also a heavy responsibility the party, the National Assembly and the people have assigned to me," Triet said, according to the official Vietnam News Agency.

"On the job of the president, I swear to try my best to serve the country and the people," he said during his acceptance speech at the assembly, adding that he would "share not only the people’s happiness but also their sorrow and pains."

“Our State must function as a main tool to implement the people’s democratic rights under the Party’s leadership,” said President Triet.

Triet also vowed to press ahead with legal reform and fight corruption.

"Legal reform together with the administrative reform must actively contribute to a successful fight against corruption and wastefulness," he said.

Triet, known for his tough stance on corruption, was elected president last year in a Cabinet reshuffle that also saw fellow southerner Nguyen Tan Dung appointed as prime minister.

He was seen as instrumental in transforming rural southern Binh Duong province, where he used to be the Communist Party boss, into one of the most attractive places for foreign investment.

He was then appointed party boss for the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City before being appointed president in June last year.

In an address to the assembly Tuesday, Triet nominated Dung as the candidate for prime minister, Manh said.

He recommended Nguyen Thi Doan, Deputy Director of the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission for the post of Vice President; Deputy Minister of Public Security Truong Hoa Binh for the post of Chief Judge of the People’s Supreme Court; and Vice Director of the People’s Supreme Procuracy Tran Quoc Vuong to the post of Director of the Vietnamese apex prosecutor’s office.

Triet’s recommendations were scheduled to be confirmed by the assembly Wednesday while Dung’s Cabinet was expected to be approved on Aug. 2.

Thanh Nien News