At the 7th Plenum in mid-May, the Communist Party only held it for 3 days. However, at this 8th Plenum, the Party plans to hold it for 7 days, from October 2 to October 8, more than double the time compared to the 7th Plenum. This shows that, The Communist Party has more problems to solve.
Between the 6th and 7th Plenum, there were 3 extraordinary meetings. One meeting was to dismiss Mr. Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, and introduce Mr. Tran Luu Quang and Tran Hong Ha to replace them. Once again, there was a meeting to dismiss Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc. And the third time was the meeting to elect Mr. Vo Van Thuong as President. But between the 7th and 8th Plenum there were no extraordinary meetings, while there were many necessary issues, such as choosing a replacement for Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh. The Communist Party has not yet made any moves on this issue, and maybe, they focus on the 8th Plenum.
Each term, the Communist Party elects 200 Central Committee members. This term the Politburo has 18 members while the Central Committee has 180 official members and 20 alternate members. The higher the level, the greater the power, and the fiercer the fighting. During the past half term, 2 Politburo members and 9 members of the Central Committee were fired and two others died mysteriously, accounting for 11% and 6.8%, respectively. DPM Le Van Thanh died of a strange disease and Nguyen Van Hung – Deputy Chairman of the Central Inspection Committee – died of falling from a building. The alternate members remain unchanged. Perhaps, the alternate member seats are not seats that need fierce competition, so the people sitting in these seats are safer.
Perhaps, at this Conference, the Party Central Committee will promote some positions of alternate members to become official members, and promote some members of the Party Central Committee to members of the Politburo, and at the same time introduce personnel to the state apparatus in some vacant positions, such as the Deputy Prime Minister position left by Mr. Le Van Thanh.
So the question is, who will be elected to the Politburo and who will be introduced to replace Mr. Le Van Thanh?
The two figures most likely to enter the Politburo today are Nguyen Trong Nghia – Senior General of the Army, Head of the Central Commission for Propaganda and Education – and Mr. Tran Luu Quang – Deputy Prime Minister.
In the 2011-2016 term, additional people were also elected to the Politburo, at the 7th Plenum held in May 2013. At that time, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong introduced Nguyen Ba Thanh and Vuong Dinh Hue, Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung’s side introduced Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Nguyen Thien Nhan. Mr. Trong’s side was considered more promising, but ultimately lost. Perhaps this is the last time Mr. Dung showed superiority over Mr. Trong. It would be wonder if at this session, Mr. Nguyen Trong Nghia and Mr. Tran Luu Quang will be able to join the Politburo, or is it still impossible? Let’s see.
In addition to dividing and selling votes to fill vacant positions, this 8th Plenum will also divide seats for the 14th Party Central Committee in the 2026-2031 term. This is considered an early division to avoid losing shares. Thus, at this 8th Central Conference, the Communist Party not only fought for vacant seats, but also fought for future seats. What causes the Communist Party to compete for seats so early? This is a question that many people have asked.
There is an opinion that the reason the Party is so worried about arranging seats for the next term is because of Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong. He is the party chief, if he does not have such a policy, who would dare to organize an early personnel discussion? Mr. Trong is now 79 years old, he cannot walk unsteadily, with this health condition there is no guarantee he will last until the end of this term. Maybe that’s why he had to arrange the positions early.
At the 8th Plenum, it is still unclear who wins and who loses, but one thing is certain, the General Secretary’s side will still be the strong side.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
