HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the job, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Communist Party.

His resignation takes place amid an intense anti-corruption campaign that has hit the highest echelons of the party.

The party's Central Committee approved his resignation, writing in a statement that “violations by Vo Van Thuong have left a bad mark on the reputation of the Communist party.”

Thuong, 54, became president in March 2023, two months after his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned to take “political responsibility” for corruption scandals during the pandemic. He was the youngest president since modern day Vietnam emerged from war in the mid-1970s.

The position of president in Vietnam is largely ceremonial and ranks third in the country’s political hierarchy.