This picture taken and released by the Vietnam News Agency on April 5, 2021 shows former prime minister and Vietnam's newly elected President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (center) taking oath during the National Assembly's spring session in Hanoi. (STR / VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY / AFP)

HANOI - The National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam on Monday elected Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the state president.

A resolution on electing Phuc as the new president was adopted with an approval rate of 97.5 percent at the ongoing 11th session of the 14th NA, Vietnam News Agency reported.

In his sworn-in statement, Phuc vowed to be absolutely loyal to the nation, the people and the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and to work hard to fulfill the duty assigned by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the state and the people.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc vowed to be absolutely loyal to the nation, the people and the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and to work hard to fulfill the duty assigned by the Communist Party of Vietnam, the state and the people

This is the first time in history that the NA elected an incumbent prime minister as the state president, according to Vietnam News Agency.

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The NA, meanwhile, confirmed the nomination of Pham Minh Chinh, a 62-year-old career security official, as the country’s next prime minister.

Phuc, born on July 20, 1954, joined the CPV in 1982. He was a member of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th CPV Central Committee (CPVCC), a member of the Politburo of the 11th, 12th and 13th CPVCC, and deputy to the 11th, 13th and 14th NA.

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According to Vietnamese legal regulations, the working tenure of the president and the prime minister is coincident with that of the NA. 

With inputs from Reuters