Vietnam Moves Closer to Naming Party Chief’s Ally as President

Bloomberg News
·3 min read
14
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam’s Communist Party agreed to nominate a close ally of its chief Nguyen Phu Trong to take over the presidency, boosting his control over economic policy after running an anti-graft crackdown to boot out internal rivals.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Central Committee on Wednesday proposed two-time Politburo member Vo Van Thuong to become the next president during a special meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter. The nomination will need to be approved by the legislature the following day before Thuong officially takes the role, they said.

Thuong, 52, will replace Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who was a regular at Davos and was once seen as a contender to take over from Trong. Phuc stepped down in January as president 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 scandals had enraged the public and Phuc’s eventual ouster opened the door for Trong to line up a successor to help lead one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies as it attracts investment from companies leaving China and benefits from stronger ties with the US. 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 latest moves now position Thuong as one of the contenders to replace Trong when the next party congress is held in 2026.

Officials from the government could not be immediately reached for comment.

Trong’s moves are seen by some analysts as an attempt to strengthen the party and ensure those holding the levers of power are steeped in ideology. 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.

“It seems the party wants to prioritize integrity and political loyalty over meritocracy,” said Le Hong Hiep of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “You might not be the best person to perform the job, but at least you are clean.”

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.

While the government’s economic and foreign policies aren’t expected to dramatically change with Thuong, the corruption crackdown and subsequent leadership changes are unnerving bureaucrats and some investors.

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.

--With assistance from Nguyen Xuan Quynh.

(Updates throughout)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.