{"id":10584,"date":"2021-01-20T00:45:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T00:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=152113"},"modified":"2021-01-20T00:45:05","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T00:45:05","slug":"names-of-vietnams-next-top-leaders-circulate-despite-warnings-against-leaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/20\/names-of-vietnams-next-top-leaders-circulate-despite-warnings-against-leaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Names of Vietnam\u2019s Next Top Leaders Circulate Despite Warnings Against Leaks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The names of Vietnam\u2019s likely next top leaders have emerged a week before the start of a ruling Communist Party Congress on Jan. 25 despite threats of punishment against leakers of what the country\u2019s government calls secret information.<\/p>\n

Decided at a Party plenary meeting held on Jan. 18, the list of candidates for the country\u2019s top jobs has now circulated widely on social media and in other reports, with two candidates designated \u201cspecial cases\u201d because they have already passed the customary age for retirement.<\/p>\n

Named on the list are Nguyen Phu Trong as general secretary of the Communist Party, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who would move from prime minister to state president. Moving into the upper ranks are Pham Minh Chinh as prime minister, and Vuong Dinh Hue as chairman of Vietnam\u2019s National Assembly.<\/p>\n

The plenary meeting, the Party\u2019s 15th<\/sup> and the last to be held under the five-year term of the outgoing leadership group, served as preparation for the 13th<\/sup> National Party Congress, a meeting held to select top leaders and approve economic policies for the next five years, and scheduled to run from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2.<\/p>\n

During the congress, some 1,600 national delegates will vote to elect the 200 members of the Central Committee, who will then choose the politburo, which usually consists of 17 to 19 members, including its general secretary.<\/p>\n

Nguyen Phu Trong, 76, and likely to continue now as party chief, is one of the two designated \u201cspecial cases\u201d now predicted to continue in a top government post beyond official retirement age and beyond a second term.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe politburo could not reach a consensus about who to recommend as his successor at the 14th plenum. Therefore, according to some sources, he [Trong ] may continue to stay in his role until a successor is found to maintain the one-party regime,\u201d said analyst Pham Quy Tho.<\/p>\n

Carlyle Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales, said that Trong will either “serve a full five-year term\u201d or \u201cstep down when consensus is reached in the new Central Committee on who should replace him.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Realistic policies, economic success’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The other special case is Nguyen Xuan Phuc, aged 67 and now named as Vietnam\u2019s likely next president.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical analysts are asking why, despite his achievements, he was not chosen for a second term as prime minister,\u201d said Tho.<\/p>\n

Phuc \u201chas created realistic policies and successfully overseen the economy, maintaining production and achieving a growth rate of nearly 3 percent while also being effective in combatting COVID-19,\u201d the analyst said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd his success in managing natural disasters, such as the storms and floods in the Central region, has also left a positive impression,\u201d added Tho.<\/p>\n

Pham Minh Chinh, now head of the Central Committee\u2019s Organization Commission, is now predicted to be chosen as prime minister, and Vuong Dinh Hue, now party chief for Hanoi city, is predicted to be named chairman of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

The list of candidates for the politburo\u2019s offices was designated in November as secret by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.<\/p>\n

In a stern warning to potential candidates and media, an official overseeing the confidential election then said that anyone responsible for leaking or publishing \u201cfalse or secret\u201d information about the process would be punished under Vietnamese law.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 10, more than 600 military personnel, police, and health workers, along with many armored vehicles, took part in a drill in Vietnam\u2019s capital Hanoi to prepare for the congress, with politburo member and organizing subcommittee head Tran Quoc Vuong saying the country\u2019s military would not \u201cneglect their duty\u201d in guaranteeing the event\u2019s safety and success.<\/p>\n

Reported by RFA\u2019s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The names of Vietnam\u2019s likely next top leaders have emerged a week before the start of a ruling Communist Party Congress on Jan. 25 despite threats of punishment\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10585,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10584\/revisions\/10585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}