The country’s top leader promised to fight corruption in an address to a twice-a-decade congress of the Communist Party, where he is seeking expanded powers similar to China’s political structure.
In just 17 months as general secretary, To Lam has swept aside rivals and centralised authority in an aggressive reform drive officials describe as a “revolution”.
He accelerated a sweeping anti-corruption campaign that ensnared thousands of officials, thinned and streamlined bureaucracy, and pushed infrastructure investment.
The party is “determined to fight corruption” as it spurs private-sector growth, he said yesterday, adding it would tackle “wastefulness and negativity”.
“All wrongdoings must be dealt with,” he told the meeting, standing before a giant statue of party founder Ho Chi Minh.
The country is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, where the Communist Party has sought to deliver rapid development to bolster its legitimacy.
In a series of closed-door meetings this week, nearly 1,600 party delegates will finalise the country’s leadership roster for the next five years and set key policies.
Lam will remain the party’s top leader, according to sources briefed on key internal deliberations. But he is seeking the presidency as well – a dual role similar to Xi Jinping’s in China.
Xi himself led an extensive anti-corruption drive, promising to target both “tigers and flies” – big and small alike – which analysts say was also used for political purposes, taking down internal opponents within his ruling party.
Experts say if Lam secures both roles, it will signal the supremacy of his security-dominated faction.
If so, he will have “the strongest mandate for the Vietnamese leadership since the end of the Vietnam war”, said Nguyen Khac Giang of Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Analysts say Lam’s reach will depend on who else secures top posts and politburo positions during the week-long conclave, particularly from the more conservative military faction that opposes him.
One source briefed on party deliberations said that Lam’s bid for expanded powers had been provisionally approved.
But some reports suggested he had to shelve his presidential ambitions to secure support for his reform agenda. — AFP
