Vietnam’s only female Politburo member steps down

The only female member of Vietnam’s Politburo has stepped down, state media reported Thursday.

The Politburo accepted Truong Thi Mai’s resignation, saying the Central Inspection Committee found there were “a number of violations and shortcomings in her work,” VNExpress reported.

Mai’s departure comes after this year’s resignation of the chairman of the National Assembly, Vuong Dinh Hue, and President Vo Van Thuong. Three of the five most senior positions in Vietnamese politics are now unfilled.

Thursday’s decision came at the opening of the ninth conference of the 13th Party Central Committee. Only three people chaired the conference, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army General Luong Cuong.

Meanwhile, the communist party announced Thursday it will nominate candidates for president and National Assembly chair, it said in a statement.

The National Assembly will vote on the candidates, who weren’t named, at a month-long meeting which starts Monday.