Hanoi, 19 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) – Nguyen Phu Trong, the powerful head of Vietnam’s Communist Party, has died aged 80 after suffering from ill health, including strokes, the government said.

Trong died "due to old age and serious illness" at the 108 Central Military Hospital in Hanoi on Friday, the statement read.

Trong, the head of Vietnam’s single-party political system, had helmed the Communist Party since 2011. Rumours about his deteriorating health had been swirling for days, and he had rarely been seen in public this year since suffering a health scare in January.

He last appeared in public on June 20 as he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a state visit to Vietnam.

His reign as general secretary was the longest since Le Duan took control following the death of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in 1969, making him one of Vietnam’s most powerful politicians in decades.

During his second and third terms in office, Trong presided over a “blazing furnace” corruption crackdown that saw numerous high-ranking officials handed lengthy jail terms, as well as the dismissal of former presidents Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vo Van Thuong, and National Assembly chair Vuong Dinh Hue.

Trong first joined the communist party in 1968 before working as a journalist for the Communist Review. Following a long career within the party apparatus, he began a five-year stint as chairman of the National Assembly in 2006.

Vietnam is officially led by four "pillars": the general secretary, the president, the prime minister and the chairman of the National Assembly.

In the early 1980s, Trong completed a PhD on party-building at the Soviet Academy of Social Sciences in Moscow. A Leninist ideologue, Trong earned a reputation as a modest and respectful figure, and remains popular across Vietnam.

On Thursday, the party announced that Trong needed to focus on medical treatment and that President To Lam would take over his party duties.

Trong had suffered several strokes since 2019.