Vietnam Elects New President Seen as Possible Successor to Trong

Bloomberg News
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(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam’s National Assembly elected a close ally of Communist Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong as the next president after he ran an anti-graft crackdown to remove potential rivals and boost his influence over economic policy making.

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The legislature on Thursday approved the nomination of two-time Politburo member Vo Van Thuong by the party’s Central Committee. Thuong, 52, replaces Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who stepped down in January after assuming “political responsibility” for the “violations and shortcomings” involving graft cases related to a manufacturer of Covid-19 test kits and repatriation flights.

The vote followed dismissals of two deputy prime ministers, also in January. These related moves have largely centered around these two graft cases, enabling Trong to finally advance potential successors to help lead one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Trong earlier failed to get a preferred candidate to replace him during the party reshuffle two years ago, forcing the 78-year-old to stay on as party chief for a third term.

The youngest member in the Politburo, Thuong is now seen as one of the contenders to replace Trong when the next party congress is held in 2026. His appointment as president are seen by some analysts as an attempt to strengthen the party and ensure those holding the levers of power are steeped in ideology.

Thuong told the legislature that he would fight corruption and “negative phenomena,” repeating a phrase often used by Trong that covers broad range of wrongdoing including taking bribes, lax oversight and allowing corruption to fester. He added international cooperation will continue.

“I will continue learning and striving to fulfill the duties of the president in accordance with the constitutional law,” he said during the proceedings broadcast on state television.

Unlike Phuc, a former prime minister who oversaw strong economic growth for a decade and was credited with the Vietnam’s decisive pandemic response, Thuong has come up through the party rank and file, analysts said.

Vietnam is similar to China, which is also a one-party state where corruption purges are often used to remove rivals and install allies in important roles. The changes have come amid accelerating anti-corruption investigations that have also led to scores of detentions, including company executives and a former health minister.

The ongoing crackdowns are making civil servants and markets concerned. Civil servants are shying away from signing off on investment projects particularly in real estate and infrastructure developments for fear that they could be the next in a probe that has ensnared more than 500 Communist Party members last year alone.

A cash crunch in the property sector is worsening and more broadly, this may put at risk the economic growth target of 6%-6.5% this year.

Avid Student

As the new president, Thuong moves from being a permanent member of the Central Committee’s Secretariat, the No. 5 position in the political hierarchy. He is known to be avid student of Leninist-Marxist philosophy and political theory, which he said was important for the country follow during his brief speech on Thursday.

More importantly, Thuong hails from Vinh Long province and his ascension would appease officials from the south given that the 2021 internal elections saw Vietnam’s top four leaders come from the central and northern regions.

While analysts have noted that Thuong is the highest-ranked member supported by Trong to potentially succeed him as the Communist Party Chief, there are other contenders at play. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue is also seen as a favorite and is said to be aligned to Trong.

But in recent months, Thuong has been increasingly featured in Vietnamese media and has gone on official trips to meet with leaders in Laos and South Korea. He was also part of Trong’s delegation when the party chief visited China in late October.

Thuong caused ripples in Vietnam in late December when he said there needed to be pressure within the Communist Party and Vietnamese society to force those guilty of corruption to resign. His comment was reported in state-run media a day before the two deputy prime ministers linked to graft cases were ousted from the Central Committee.

“He’s not been known to be involved in any in any corruption scandal,” said Le Hong Hiep of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “If the party wants to continue the fight against corruption, they need the leaders to have the moral authority to do so.”

--With assistance from Cecilia Yap and Philip J. Heijmans.

(Updates throughout)

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