The fact that General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, suddenly hides, suddenly appears, and is more hidden than he appears, has made the issue of the successor to the position of General Secretary become an important topic. Not only is it a concern of public opinion, but it is also a matter of individual candidates and their factions, within the Party.
General Trong “unexpectedly” appeared at the opening session of the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, January 15, after more than 3 weeks of disappearance. Experts believe that the appearance was at the request of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, leader of the Nghe An and Ha Tinh factions.
Hue wanted to invite General Secretary Trong to appear, to “taunt” Minister of Public Security To Lam, saying that the police chief should not show too openly his ambition to “compete for power and usurp the position” of General Secretary.
Dan Tri newspaper on February 2 reported “Handling major corruption cases: Serious but does not mean treating too harsh.” The news said, Deputy Commission for Internal Affairs Nguyen Van Yen defended the fact that recently, during the trials of major corruption cases, public opinion said that the Party imposed light punishment for corrupt officials.
Nguyen Van Yen said: “Being strict does not mean punishing too harshly, but ensuring that the true nature of the violation is handled; Handled openly, no secrets, no secrets, no hidden charges.” At the same time, Yen also reiterated that the policy of “strictly handling does not mean treating corrupt officials too harshly” is to follow the instructions of “humanity, kindness” of General Secretary Trong.
According to analysts, the above action of Yen is a “show of force” action by the Nghe Tinh faction. This faction is led by Phan Dinh Trac, as Head of the Central Commission for Internal Affairs cum Deputy Head of the Anti-Corruption Committee, and Trong as commander-in-chief.
What does that have to do with the recent reactions of the Ministry of Public Security in targeting Tran Tuan Anh, former Head of the Central Economic Commission, who has just been approved by the Central Committee to retire early at 60.
At the regular Government Press Conference in January 2024, when the press asked questions about the progress of investigating a number of major cases in the fields of electricity and petroleum of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security Lieutenant General To An Xo said there is a situation where investors and contractors join hands to raise the price of electrical supplies and equipment, with some materials being increased by 300%. That is one of the reasons why electricity prices increase, causing damage to consumers.
The fact that the Nghe Tinh faction brought Nguyen Van Yen – spokesperson, representing the Central Commission for Internal Affairs, to face and respond to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security – Lieutenant General Ton Xo, according to observers, is a good calculations by Phan Dinh Trac. The purpose is to convey a message, “The Nghe Tinh side is the one who is mastering the game, that is irreversible.”
Recently, there have been rumors regarding the discord between Head of the Central Commission for Internal Affairs Phan Dinh Trac – one of the key leaders of the Nghe Tinh faction, right-hand man of General Secretary Trong – and Minister of Public Security To Lam.
Experts revealed that, in response to To Lam’s abuse, General Secretary Trong revealed to close people that he really wanted to bring Phan Dinh Trac to replace To Lam before Trong retires.
Meanwhile, General Nguyen Duy Ngoc – Head of the Police Investigation Agency, Deputy Minister of Public Security – is a compatriot and someone previously trusted by Minister To Lam. But now, Ngoc has “turned around” and switched to serving Mr. Phan Dinh Trac to fight against To Lam. On December 12, 2023, Nguyen Duy Ngoc was just awarded the military rank of Senior Lieutenant General.
Not to mention, after rumors appeared that General Secretary Trong would definitely retire, Minister of Public Security To Lam opened too many fronts to attack most potential candidates for the position of General Secretary. That unintentionally motivated other factions to band together to respond to To Lam.
Recently, news appeared about the race to replace the General Secretary, between General of Public Security To Lam, and Army General Phan Van Giang, and the advantage is leaning towards the army chief. Accordingly, Minister Phan Van Giang is receiving the support of the majority, out of the current remaining 16 Politburo members.
According to analysts, To Lam has been turning “friends into enemies” and with his ambition to “climb high,” it is inevitable that he will fall hard. Let’s wait and see how To Lam’s failure in the sprint phase will play out.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
