Which forces use General Secretary Trong as "toy" in internal fighting?

The event that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, after many weeks of absence, suddenly appeared at the opening session of the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, attracted many people’s attention.

But few people know that, behind the rumors related to General Secretary Trong’s health, is the story of a internal fighting at the top of the Vietnamese leadership.

Among them, there are individuals and groups taking advantage of the fact that Trong has health problems, which is a fact. They want to force Mr. Trong to leave his position as head of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

There are also factions close to Trong, who have combined with factions that do not support him, for a common determination: “Whoever is the General Secretary can be, but that person is not Minister of Public Security To Lam!”

This is not a new story. Before the 12th Party National Congress, there was a similar slogan for former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and this forced former two-term Prime Minister Ba Dung to retire.

Recently, knowledgeable people have made comments that the Minister of Public Security is the most powerful figure in the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam. While many opinions believe that a replacement for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will definitely happen, the race for the General Secretary position has even begun.

Some assessments emphasize that if, in case Mr. Trong cannot continue to perform his duties, only the Minister of Public Security is the most experienced, powerful, and suitable person to succeed him. Even if Minister To Lam does not replace the General Secretary, there is a risk of “party collapse.”

Professor Alexander L. Vuving, from the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, on January 12, made the following comment: “The most likely candidates to succeed Nguyen Phu Trong as the role of General Secretary is Vuong Dinh Hue – Chairman of the National Assembly; and Truong Thi Mai – Standing member of the Secretariat, Head of the Central Organizing Committee.”

“Why there are fire without smoke.” Internally, there are always conflicts and power struggles within a dictatorship. So information about General Trong’s health was leaked to the outside, according to analysts, all part of the deliberate calculation of individuals as well as factions within the Party, to attack each other.

That is the reason why there has been a stir and heated speculation about the General Secretary’s health in recent days.

Observers said there are rumors that the Beijing leadership will support a leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Accordingly, Minister of Public Security To Lam was chosen to replace Mr. Trong, as General Secretary.

It is not without reason that it was reported that, in a move considered quite unusual, on January 9, the Hanoi Capital Command suddenly organized the event “Opening training on military and international work in 2024.”

According to observers, this is a move that shows that the leadership of the Ministry of Defense is implementing an “anti-coup” plan.

Notably, this took place one day before when Chinese Deputy Minister of Public Security Chen Syiuan suddenly visited Vietnam. At the same time, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security signed a “Memorandum of Cooperation on Political Security” between the two ministries.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s sudden appearance after many days of absence was simultaneously reported by domestic and foreign media.

From the video clip of Thanh Nien Online newspaper, people see “Mr. Trong stood up to greet but had to hold on to the table and was helped up by President Vo Van Thuong.”

Dat Viet newspaper reported, “Reuter: General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong took photos, then quickly left the parliament during the opening session.” Accordingly, Reuters news quoted witnesses as saying “immediately after Vuong Dinh Hue’s opening speech at the Communist National Assembly of Vietnam on January 15, Trong was helped out of the session by his assistant and bodyguard.”

Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the laws of nature, no one can avoid them, just as “getting sick, getting old” is the law of eternity. So why, who, what political faction in the Communist Party of Vietnam “forced” General Trong to appear in this National Assembly session? Then after that, Mr. Trong had to return to the ICU to continue receiving health care?

Regardless of whether this matter is approved by General Secretary Trong or not, according to knowledgeable people, the Nghe An faction of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue wants to take advantage of this event to “humiliate” Minister of Public Security To Lam. However, in any case, it is impossible to avoid the scandal and controversy of public opinion, when public opinion believes that “General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has been used as a toy by certain forces in the internal fighting within the Party.”

As a reminder, observers said that during the opening session of this extraordinary session of the National Assembly, Minister of Public Security General To Lam was not seen.

Is it possible that To Lam also sensed the intentions of Vuong Dinh Hue and the Nghe An faction, so he avoided the event?