Former police chief To Lam has officially become General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, with 100% of the votes in the Politburo, meaning that, once again, he forced the Politburo to agree with him. The first time, he forced the Politburo to accept Luong Tam Quang as Minister of Public Security, the second time was to force the Politburo to announce the temporary position of General Secretary to him, right after Nguyen Phu Trong had passed away without announcing it.
With 8 years as Minister of Public Security, To Lam has placed people from his native province of Hung Yen in senior positions of this ministry, and thanks to that, he has enough strength to rebel against party chief Nguyen Phu Trong. Currently, Quang continues to strongly implement this policy in the ministry under Lam’s secret instructions.
It can be said that wherever Lam went, he prefers to use officials from Hung Yen. At the 9th Plenum of the Central Committee, Lam successfully pushed his close disciple, Nguyen Duy Ngoc, to become the Chief of the Party Central Committee Office. This was the first step to Hung Yenize the Secretariat. After that, when Lam took on the role of the head of the Central Committee, Nguyen Duy Ngoc would become his treasurer here.
Thus, when Lam entered the Secretariat as the boss, power began to shift. It is very likely that Nguyen Duy Ngoc’s role would be elevated, although he would still only hold the position of Chief of the Party Central Committee Office. Currently, the Secretariat has 8 Politburo members, but 7 of them were chosen by late party chief Trong. If Lam does not limit the power in the hands of these people, then it is possible that in the Secretariat there will be a phenomenon of the superiors not listening to the subordinates.
Ngoc, former minister of public security, is considered a Hung Yen seed in the Secretariat, most likely, in the coming time, Lam will transfer more subordinates here, to gradually replace Trong’s old subordinates.
Compared to Trong, Lam is more localist, using more cadres from his province in the regime apparturse. After all, Trong also protected many interest groups surviving under his command. But To Lam is different, he almost only uses subordinates from Hung Yen, and very limitedly uses subordinates from outside his locality. Those who are not from Hung Yen, either have a family relationship with To Lam, or must be very talented and capable people, which To Lam needs, like General Dinh Van Noi for example. However, someone as talented as General Noi is just a tool, with little chance of benefiting from Lam.
Having just become the acting General Secretary, To Lam has reorganized the Ministry of Public Security, and brought his son, To Long, into the light. This red seed has long been hiding in the External Security Department (A01), now stepping into the light, benefiting from the power of his father. Then this “rich kid” will also advance rapidly, will be a future Party leader, if Lam holds power long enough.
Once the Secretariat has been localized, it can be considered that the entire Communist Party of Vietnam is in Lam’s hands. And perhaps, at that time, he will use the Party to serve his family’s interests. The best positions are hold by his subordinates who are also ready to protect the rich kids from his family.
Lam has just become General Secretary, the state-controlled press has begun to worship him with the word “suy tôn.” It is unclear what To Lam’s intentions are in the future. Before becoming General Secretary, Lam had almost manipulated the entire state-controlled press system. Now, with almost absolute power in his hands, will To Lam miss the opportunity to turn himself into a “saint”?
To Lam steps up to the pinnacle of power, Vietnam will become a country with individual dictatorship with the comes from the To family.
Thai Ha – Thoibao.de
