On March 28, General To An Xo – spokesman of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, informed the press that the Police Investigation Agency (C03) of the ministry had arrested Pham Hoang Anh, Standing Deputy Secretary Committee of the Party Committee of Vinh Phuc province, on the crime of “Receiving bribes” under Clause 4, Article 354, Criminal Code. Le Viet Chu, former Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee, was also detained on the same charge.
These arrests followed detentions of senior officials of the party and state aparaturse. Then there will be other cases, because this is the way the Minister of Public Security has worked recently. Since the beginning of the year, six senior officials have been arrested while still in office and not yet recommended for discipline, dismissal, and expulsion from the Party by the Central Committee’s Inspection Commission. Of course, after being arrested, these people will also be disciplined and expelled from the Party.
According to Party regulations, leaders who are members of the Party Central Committee and members of the Politburo are managed by the Politburo. The group of lower officials, deputy levels in centrally-run agencies, is managed by the Secretariat. Pham Hoang Anh is the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee – an agency directly under the Central Committee, but is not a member of the Party Central Committee, so he is under the management of the Secretariat. So, according to the process, before being arrested, Pham Hoang Anh must be disciplined by the Secretariat.
To Lam is the Minister of Public Security and has no authority over the Secretariat, so he cannot exercise Party discipline against the person he wants to arrest. That’s why he was “captured alive” without going through Party discipline. This case and other recent “arrest alive” cases are signs that To Lam is overtaking the Secretariat and acting on his own.
Is this a signal of internal rebellion of the Communist Party of Vietnam?
Previously, To Lam had to wait for the Secretariat to meet to discuss, and then assign Tran Cam Tu to draw up a disciplinary list to present to the Politburo. After the Politburo officially decides on the disciplinary action, only then will To Lam be allowed to play his role.
There are many forms of discipline, such as reprimand, warning, dismissal, and expulsion from the Party. Usually only when he is dismissed from his position and expelled from the Party can To Lam be arrested. If the discipline is a reprimand or warning, then it is not To Lam’s turn to act.
Once To Lam dared to ignore the role of the Secretariat, it was clear that To Lam showed off his “muscles” in front of his Party comrades, saying, “be reasonable, otherwise the Secretariat won’t be able to do anything to save you.” The police chief is mastering the game on the political chessboard today. The message he gave was clear. Is there any interest group that “dare” to stand up to a Minister of Public Security who is “drunk with blood and punishment”?
For To Lam, using violence to terrorize and control “comrades” is his forte. Not many people are brave enough to stand up to confront To Lam, but most are scared and have to humble themselves before To Lam. Suppose, the entire Party is too afraid to yield to To Lam, then when he ascends to the position of General Secretary, To Lam will certainly not forgive those who have been against him. Because with To Lam’s intolerant, inhumane and especially ungrateful personality, he will not forgive anyone. This is a war for power, a war of life and death, so the sides have no need to be kind to each other.
Up to now, To Lam has arrested people at ranks from Party Central Committee members and below. With the Four Pillars, To Lam also accurately struck the State President, causing two consecutive state heads to withdraw from politics.
Will the National Assembly Chairman and the Prime Minister be strong enough to hold on until the end of their term?
These two pillars must also know that even if they do not attack To Lam, To Lam will not be good to them. What happens next, let’s wait for the next movie.
