On May 22, former Minister of Public Security – General To Lam, was officially sworn in as State President. This is clearly an event that is considered an important turning point. According to observers, this event will end To Lam’s rebellion in recent months, and the time has come, he needs time to prepare for the “post-To Lam” era.
Not long ago, conflicts within the Party’s senior leaders were extremely deep, to the point of almost losing control. His Ministry of Public Security was very active in this internal fighting.
Journalist David Hutt commented:
“The seemingly commendable efforts to eliminate corruption by the Communist Party of Vietnam have now turned into bitter cannibalism.”
Hutt compared the stories of Vo Van Thuong and Vuong Dinh Hue – rare characters who are considered the most capable, among them, there are leading candidates for the position of General Secretary. Hutt said:
“Everything within the Party is now a clear process: the most powerful animal will cannibalize its own kind to take its place.”
However, To Lam’s participation in the “Four Pillars” has left Vietnamese political observers, domestic and international, inexplicable. What role is To Lam playing in the current “leadership” battle?
According to some analysis, the “palace coup” or so-called, the beginning of the “overturning card” campaign by To Lam, and the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security, was a failure, or is a foretold death. For this reason, To Lam did not evaluate the true strength of himself and his faction.
Accordingly, To Lam and his staff misjudged the situation. They simply believe that the Ministry of Public Security – with a treasure trove of documents – “big data” containing “black files” of officials, can always use it.
But To Lam was wrong. Because his real power comes from the power of the Minister of Public Security. On the contrary, his fatal weakness is the issue of factions. The Ministry of Public Security and To Lam have almost no alliance. Furthermore, the Ministry of Public Security is still divided internally, lacking solidarity and unity.
According to some analysis, it was not until now, after losing to General Secretary Trong, that To Lam knew the above things. But he discovered, since there were signs of losing, to retreat and play the “two-faced” card.
Remember, at the regular Government press conference in April, on May 4, Lieutenant General To An Xo – spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, said:
“When the leader of the Special Investigation Committee reported to the General Secretary on a number of cases, directed by the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption, the General Secretary praised the Ministry of Public Security for its determination and fierceness in fighting against corruption and negativity.”
Gen. Xo also added that the General Secretary also requested the Ministry of Public Security to continue to be more determined and drastic, in the spirit of upholding the law, no restricted areas, no exceptions, everyone is equal before the law.
This shows that Xo tried to show that To Lam realised the party chief’s motto “There are no forbidden areas, no one is an exception” but has absolutely no story of “competing for power” from General Secretary Trong, as incited by “hostile forces” and deliberately causing division within the Party.
Some analysts have commented that To Lam and his faction are using a “two-sided” card in the internal leadership fighting to deceive people. But most likely, these are signs of defeat for him and his circle.
Again, To Lam’s “anger” is said to stem from General Secretary Trong’s greed for power. Trong has made no secret of his ambition to keep his position of General Secretary for a fourth term. As of today, the game has temporarily stopped, but there is a high possibility that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will no longer use the cards of To Lam and the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security.
The faction of the Ministry of Public Security or the faction of former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, although losing, has not failed completely. In addition, factions and many leaders within the Party are also in a general mood of resentment.
Therefore, the situation of disunity and struggle for power will have no end, and may lead to more serious instability, to the point where the Communist Party of Vietnam may collapse./.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
