Current Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary To Lam to stay in the top jobvin the cabinet. -- Photo: Bloomberg
HANOI (Bloomberg): Vietnam’s Communist Party will nominate current General Secretary To Lam to stay in the top job, according to people familiar with the matter, paving the way for him to push on with a reform program that’s reshaping the nation.
In a rare and politically significant move, Lam will also be put forward to hold the dual role of the nation’s presidency, the people said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
This could face a challenge when it gets to the Party Congress, where all leaders are up for election, and would still need parliamentary approval, the people added.
The decision was made at the 15th plenum of the Party Central Committee, the people said, an event that comes ahead of the twice-a-decade Party Congress, scheduled to take place in Hanoi next month. The conclave is where the country’s senior leadership will officially be elected for the next five years and key policy targets will be set.
The nominated candidates were endorsed "with an overwhelming majority of votes,” Lam said in closing remarks posted on the government website, without naming anyone. "We sincerely thank the Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat for the confidence placed in us,” he said on behalf of those "who have been entrusted with the nominations” for the upcoming term, according to the post.
If Lam secures the presidency, it would be the first time in the modern era that Vietnam’s Party Congress has given its seal of approval to one person holding both offices, except as a temporary measure. That would represent a major political victory for Lam, who briefly held both posts in 2024.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Since taking over as party chief in August 2024, Lam has overseen some of the most far-reaching changes since the Communist leadership adopted pro-market reforms in the late 1980s.
That overhaul has sharply reduced the size of the bureaucracy, with tens of thousands of officials made redundant or pushed into early retirement. An entire tier of local government has been abolished, and the number of provinces cut by half.
The changes have been pitched as essential medicine to reduce red tape and eliminate unnecessary costs. While investors have welcomed the reforms, detractors have suggested Vietnam under Lam is moving too far, too fast.
The push to elevate the role of the private sector under so-called Resolution 68 has drawn particular attention in an economy long dominated by state-owned companies. In his remarks, Lam highlighted what appeared to be a more nuanced approach, emphasizing the need to improve the efficiency of state-run firms while fostering the development of private enterprise.
Lam, 68, is a former public security minister who for years oversaw a corruption crackdown that ensnared hundreds of business executives and Communist Party officials, including those at the very top. Presidents, deputy prime ministers and party bureaucrats stepped down over wrongdoing, while a death sentence given to a real estate tycoon in a $12 billion fraud case garnered global attention.
The "blazing furnace” anti-graft campaign was championed by Lam’s predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong, a long-time party chief. Trong broke with tradition when he simultaneously held the role of general secretary and president, although - as with Lam’s dual stint in 2024 - it was only a temporary measure.
Prior to that, Ho Chi Minh was party chief from 1956 to 1960 and served as president for periods between 1946 and his death in 1969, according to the party’s website.
Vietnam has a collective "four pillar” power structure comprising the party general secretary, prime minister, president and chair of the National Assembly, all of whom are decided at the congress.
One of the biggest challenges for the leadership team will be achieving an annual economic growth target of at least 10% over the next five years as tariffs and global trade uncertainties threaten to weigh on exports and investment flows.
Vietnam’s economy expanded 8.2% last quarter, the fastest pace in three years, as factories went into overdrive shipping goods to the US before the higher 20% levy kicked in.
Monday saw the replacement of Vietnam’s trade minister overseeing tariff talks with the US. That underscores the challenges facing the Southeast Asian nation as it seeks to balance relations with its largest export market, the US, and its biggest trade partner, China.
--With assistance from Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen. -- Bloomberg
