On March 20, General Secretary cum President Nguyen Phu Trong for the first time chaired a Politburo meeting on the prevention of Wuhan flu since its arrival in Vietnam in January. According to the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the fact that the world “highly praised” achievements in the prevention of the Wuhan flu over the past time have shown the “superiority” and “good nature” of the regime.
“Obviously, the foreign press and media have praised, if there is no political system like Vietnam, it is not likely to be done,” VOV quoted Mr. Trong as saying.
“The leadership and direction are very timely, sensitive and drastic, both the political system and the entire population joined in achieving positive results, highly appreciated by the world, the people trusted, support and actively participate,” the official website of the Vietnamese government quoted Mr. Trong’s next comment.
Attending the meeting were the highest leaders in the government system, including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, members of the Politburo, the National Steering Committee for the Prevention of Wuhan Pneumonia – headed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, and many other leaders.
This is the first time Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong has a meeting with the Politburo on the prevention of Wuhan pneumonia, after a long absence in the media since the beginning of the pandemic.
One day earlier, on March 19, Mr. Trong chaired the Personnel Subcommittee meeting to listen to the Helping Group presenting the Report on the summarizing the work of the Central Executive Committee of the 12th Party Committee and discussing the direction of the personnel’s work.
His absence in recent months has led many people on social networks to question the role of the head of the Communist Party cum President of Vietnam. Social networking has exposed quite a lot of questions and criticism, perhaps that’s why he has appeared.
Some even compare Mr. Trong’s moves with China’s President Xi Jinping. Xi has also been absent from the public for months as China struggled with the pandemic that killed thousands of people, only appearing in Wuhan, the first place where Wuhan pneumonia occurred.
Some international newspapers say President Xi Jinping’s reappearance at the end of the pandemic is to reassure people, “take” the fruits, prove to the West that his way of ruling has led to succeed in stopping the pandemic in China.
At the meeting on March 20, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong praised Vietnam’s achievements in recent years such as good control of the disease situation, successful treatment for 16 patients and the production of Wuhan pneumonia test.
He also praised the propaganda works, and the handling of “false information dispersers” took seriously and promptly.
As of 8 pm of March 21, Vietnam has recorded 94 cases of Wuhan pneumonia, including two medical staff in Bach Mai Hospital.
From Berlin, Mr. Bui Thanh Hieu, the Blogger Nguoi Buon, who is often concerned about Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong and has many comments on the internal situation of Vietnam, said: “Mr. Trong is a measure of the Wuhan pandemic“
Blogger Bui Thanh Hieu wrote on his Facebook:
“Since the outbreak of Wuhan flu, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong has since disappeared. In his most powerful position, Trong has enough information about the disease outbreak. For example, it affects people over 70 years of age, it contacts people between people.
Maybe so, Mr. Trong disappeared. He must now be in a well-guarded, disinfected place.
That said, it can be understood that until Trong appears, the result of the Wuhan pandemic result will not be able to confirm the results. The longer you know how long it takes, the greater the concern about the impact of this outbreak.”
With less than 10 months left to the 13th Party Congress, there are still many things that the Vietnamese Communist Party must do, such as personnel issues, the issue of lines, reviews and summaries.
Blogger Nguoi Gio continued to add:
“It is not the statistic of the government or the ministry that quiets people with the appearance of Mr. Trong. The numbers can be deceptive, virtual to deceive the people not to panic but affect the regime. The image of the General Secretary, the President appearing here and there to visit and direct, reminds is the most realistic evidence for the results of the prevention of Wuhan flu in Vietnam.
Since the 12th party’s plenum in the beginning of October 2019, it has been more than 5 months so far, according to the 6-month practice, there will be the next plenum. 2020 is the last year of the 12th term, the first quarter of the year has deployed grassroots party committee conferences. If we know that the 10th and 11th plenum were only 4 months apart, then there is still no movement in the 12th plenum so far, obviously the pandemic in Vietnam is still a huge concern.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Thuan, vice chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, member of the drafting committee. a powerful factor for drafting lines and documents for the 13th Congress was caught by Wuhan flu after traveling abroad. Mr. Thuan’s journey makes people see the luxury life of one of Mr. Trong’s loyal cadres.”
During the last 2 months, since the outbreak in Vietnam, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong completely “disappeared,” there has not been any statement or direction on this pandemic. This is not the first time Nguyen Phu Trong “disappeared” while the country was “in trouble.. In 2019, Trong also remained silent for more than three months despite Chinese invasion of the 8-seater Hai Duong probe throughout Vietnam’s Vanguard Bank.
“Of course, the heads of the Party and the State can get sick, and there may be personal problems. But a country cannot lack leadership and must have a mechanism to replace it,” Mr. Nguyen Lan Thang expressed.
“Nothing reassures the people better than the appearance of the head of the party and state like Mr. Trong. Could Trong take advantage of the pandemic, escape and postpone the plenum to justify the 13th Congress’ suspension?
What people would think about neither seeing Trong nor seeing the activities of the central government. People will think that simply, the party’s senior officials are still afraid of dying from the pandemic, not daring to work, then say the pandemic is well controlled, unbelievable,” concluded the Nguoi Buon Gio.
Dr. Ha Hoang Hop assessed that the reason Mr. Trong has not been able to appear in public so long is because of his weak health:
“He is sick. He was recovering slowly, so he asked for permission to work less. Last time on Vanguard Bank, he said it at the plenum, not outside. As for the pandemic now, only the Prime Minister has said it, but the Chairman of the National Assembly has also not said anything. Maybe they assigned each other.”
The public has raised a lot of questions about this “unreliable” because in theory, the person who plays the role of President of the country is said to need a timely statement and action to “settle the people” on related issues such as foreign affairs and the health of the people and other concerns about national sovereignty, natural disasters, pandemics.
According to the Constitution, the President has 6 main duties and powers. In which, the fifth task specifically states ‘… proclaiming and abolishing emergencies throughout the country or in each locality.”
“My guess is that the condition of Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong is very bad. Because we know the information that he had a stroke, suffered from health problems, was very shaken when he appeared in the media a long time ago.
Yet perhaps Mr. Trong is still trying to hold on to a position of power, as well as having a decisive role in the upcoming Congress, so he sought to avoid the media and avoid public opinion,” Mr. Nguyen Lan Thang said.
Rumor was that Nguyen Phu Trong suffered a stroke starting April 14, 2019, while visiting Kien Giang province.
Vietnamese spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang later told the press that: “The high intensity of work has affected the health of General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. He will return to normal work soon.”
It was only on May 14, 2019 that Mr. Trong reappeared in state media when he was chairing a meeting of the Politburo members.
Hoang Trung from Hanoi – Thoibao.de (Translated)
