Truong Tan Sang as Vietnam’s 9th President

Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly appointed Truong Tan Sang as the communist country’s new president on 25 July 2011 following Vietnam’s 13th National Assembly election. Sang, an arch rival of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is the ninth president f the country, the first being revered founding father Ho Chi Minh. Sang succeeded Nguyen Minh Triet, who served one term.
Sang had been the ruling Communist Party's de facto number two since 2006. He had mounted an aggressive challenge for the prime minister's job before the party's January congress, which determined top leadership posts. Sang, a native of southern Vietnam and a student militant imprisoned by the then US-backed South Vietnam regime, Sang went on to become became mayor of Ho Chi Minh City. He had most recently served as the de facto No. 2 in charge of the Communist Party, running the day-to-day affairs.

Sang was imprisoned from 1971-73 by the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government when he served as a communist fighter for the north during the Vietnam War. It ended in 1975 when the north seized control of the former southern capital, Saigon, reunifying the country.
The role of the president in Vietnam is mostly ceremonial, while the prime minister runs the country’s day-to-day operations.

The announcement was made amid challenges at home with the economy and abroad with China over disputed territory in the South China Sea. Sang’s appointment to the post of President was made after Vietnamese protesters demonstrated against China for the eighth straight week as tensions between the two countries continued to simmer over disputed territory claimed by both countries in the South China Sea.

China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations had agreed in July 2011 to a preliminary plan to work together to resolve disputes in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea that’s home to vital shipping lanes.

Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest-growing countries currently faces domestic pressure as it struggles with wide-ranging economic woes. It is battling huge trade and current account deficits, a weak currency and double-digit inflation that’s squeezing the country’s poor by driving up food prices.