The 8th Conference of the Central Committee (Plenum) of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the 13th term, is expected to open in mid-October 2023 with content focusing on personnel work for the 14th Party National Congress, expected to take place in early 2026. It is known that after the 8th Plenum, the National Assembly will conduct a vote of confidence procedure.
Tuoi Tre newspaper on September 18 said that at the 6th session of the National Assembly, it is expected to conduct a vote of confidence for positions elected and approved by the National Assembly, right in the opening session of the 6th session starting on October 23.
As expected, after hearing reports of discussion results at the delegations, the National Assembly will conduct a vote of confidence by secret ballot, and the results of the vote of confidence will be announced on the afternoon of October 24.
According to current regulations, the National Assembly elects and approves a number of positions, and these positions will be subject to mid-term votes of confidence by the National Assembly. Three positions in the “four pillars” including President Vo Van Thuong, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are also among the positions elected and approved by the National Assembly.
Public opinion evaluates that the results of this term’s vote of confidence for PM Chinh are extremely important. Because if he does not achieve a high rate of “confidence” votes, it is highly likely that he will be unable to stay in the Prime Minister’s position, even though the Prime Minister unexpectedly passed spectacularly in the 7th Plenum (May 2023).
Before the 7th Plenum, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong repeatedly hinted at Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director of AIC Company, who was sentenced to 30 years in absentia as escaped before being probed. Mr. Trong once affirmed “she can’t hide, you just have to wait and see.”
Recently, at the end of August 2023, the Ministry of Public Security also repeated its call for Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to return home to surrender, after the Ministry prosecuted Ms. Nhan in the third case, accused of instructing her subordinates to use subsidiary companies acted as “fake competitors in bidding“ so that AIC won the bid for the equipment procurement project of Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital in 2012. That proves the “commitment” of General Secretary Trong to voters failed. Therefore, it is natural that General Trong is bitter towards PM Chinh.
Most recently, the former Secretary of Quang Ninh – Chinh’s successor – was officially “prosecuted.” Specifically, Mr. Nguyen Van Doc, former Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee, has just been recommended for disciplinary consideration by the Central Inspection Commission due to “faults related to AIC and FLC.” Doc was the Secretary of Quang Ninh in the 2015-2019 period.
According to VnExpress newspaper on September 21, Mr. Doc and his subordinates at the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee were accused of “lacking responsibility and lax leadership and direction, letting the Provincial People’s Committee and many organizations and individuals to violate regulations in the management and implementation of bidding packages carried out by Advanced International Company (AIC), companies in the AIC ecosystem and FLC Group.” And Mr. Doc’s behavior was condemned by the Central Inspection Commission as, “causing very serious consequences, damage and risk of damage, wasting a large amount of money and State assets, to the point that it must be disciplined.”
Up to now, it is still unclear whether Doc will be removed as a “former Secretary” or even face legal trouble because of the violations mentioned above.
It is worth mentioning that for a long time, PM Chính, former Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee for the 2011-2015 period, has been rumored by the public to have a “cloudy relationship” with Ms. Nhan. The investigation into the corruption case in Quang Ninh province while Mr. Chinh was Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee was reported by the domestic press as being unrelated to this man. But the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz affirmed that Chinh was put in the “target” in Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong’s fight against corruption, which is essentially a battle for power, internal fighting within the Party.
In early August 2023, German newspaper Taz reported that Ms. Nhan was hiding in Germany after spending some time in the UK, and was “facing the risk of being kidnapped to Vietnam.” This newspaper also said that, according to their own sources, Nhan and 7 subordinates at AIC Company quickly boarded a plane to go abroad, before being probed by the police on the same day April 29, 2022, related to the “contract collusion” case to build Dong Nai General Hospital.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, two out of seven of Ms. Nhan AIC’s close subordinates returned home and “surrendered.” This shows that the siege on “former Secretary” Nguyen Van Doc is gradually closing. And will the Prime Minister be affected?
As a reminder, the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted and wanted Ms. Nhan AIC, wanting at all costs to bring her back to Vietnam under the orders of General Secretary Trong, with the purpose of prosecuting PM Chinh to push Mr. Chinh out of the race for the General Secretary position, after Mr. Trong retires at the end of the 13th National Congress.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
