Vietnam: Communist Party congress picks new leadership
January 25, 2021
Vietnam's ruling Communist Party gathered on Monday for its first national congress since 2016. Nearly 1,600 delegates will approve future policyand select new leaders amid talks over whether the current party chief will stay.
It is the 13th congress since the Communist Party was established in 1930. The congress will take place over nine days of mostly closed door meetings.
A new leadership for Vietnam will not just mean potential changes to domestic policy, but will also impact relations between China and the United States, as Vietnam has become an important strategic partner for both countries.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 76, won a second term in 2016, and has garnered favor by presiding over economic growth and waging a popular war on corruption.
Trong has been struggling with bad health, but is expected to continue for a third term. Additionally, analysts expect continuity in Vietnam's economic, domestic and foreign-policy making after the congress.
No tolerance for dissent
The main candidates for the new positions to be determined at the congress are all widely known in Hanoi's political circles, but were officially declared top secret in December to discourage critical debate. The Communist Party maintains strict control over domestic media and has a low tolerance for criticism, while citizens are not allowed to discuss public candidates.
The streets of Hanoi were lined with hammer and sickle flags and posters to promote the congress, as delegates lined up for a ceremonial visit to the mausoleum of founding revolutionary Ho Chi Minh before meetings began.
Vietnam is one of the last remaining Communist single-party states that does not tolerate dissent, but policy is also dictated on the community level. A series of meetings were held earlier in each of Vietnam's 63 provinces and municipalities to select 1,587 delegates.
They will then elect the 200-member Central Committee, which will choose between 15 and 19 of its members to serve on the Politburo, the highest party body.
Rigorous Covid screenings
Congress attendees were subjected to rigorous coronavirus prevention screenings, and were all tested twice for the virus in the days leading up to the gathering, in order to preserve Vietnam's heavily praised progress in fighting the pandemic.
According to the health ministry, around 10,000 people have been tested in connection with the congress. That approach echoes the hefty quarantine, testing and tracing measures that have helped the country to keep its infection rates low in comparison with other countries.
Vietnam has reported just over 1,500 cases and 35 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
lc/rt (Reuters, AP)