Senior Lieutenant General Le Kha Phieu, former general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, passed away on early Friday morning (August 7) at the age of 89.

Le Kha Phieu speaks to the press in 2017. Photo: Tung Dinh

The veteran politician died of illness and old age, the national board in charge of senior officials’ health said.

Born on December 27, 1931 in the central province of Thanh Hoa, he held senior positions in the army from 1964 to 1992, reaching Commissioner of the General Political Department of the People's Army of Vietnam.

In 1991, at the seventh National Party Congress, he was elected the Party Central Committee and assigned a seat in the Party Secretariat the following year.

In 1996, he made his way to the Politburo, the supreme decision-making body in Vietnam, and held the top job, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee, from December 1997 to April 2001.

He is known for promoting a campaign to push back corruption and bureaucracy inside the Party

Details about his funeral are expected to be announced soon.

Mr. Phieu’s predecessor, Do Muoi, who held the highest position in Vietnam’s political system from June 1991 to December 1997, died on October 1, 2018 at the age of 101.