Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary-General, the country's most powerful leader, 80-year-old Nguyen Phu Trong, has died, according to the party.
As recently as on Thursday, the news came that Trong would take a break from politics to focus on his health and receive medical care. What kind of care Trong would receive was never disclosed, and on Friday, reports emerged that he had passed away.
Now, instead, President To Lam will lead the country.
Trong has been serving as Secretary-General since 2011, which, according to human rights groups, has coincided with Vietnam's development towards an increasingly authoritarian regime. During his tenure, thousands of people were arrested for corruption, and the suppression of dissidents and activists intensified in the one-party state.
He saw corruption as the single greatest threat to maintaining the party's legitimacy.
"A country without discipline would be chaotic and unstable," said Trong in 2016 after being re-elected as party leader. Officially, Vietnam has no supreme leader, but the Communist Party leader is traditionally seen as the most powerful.
He launched a comprehensive anti-corruption campaign, known as "the blazing furnace", which has affected both the business community and the political elite. Several presidents, ministers, and business leaders have been forced to leave their roles as part of a comprehensive anti-corruption operation.
