Vietnam’s long-serving head Nguyen Phu Trong has died” after a period of illness”, marking the end of a democratic age.
The government announced his resumption of his health weeks after he was reportedly tasked with performing his duties as president to Lam.
As the public minister of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party since 2011, and at one point even double-hatting as leader, Mr Trong was seen as one of the country’s most effective leaders in years.
Besides overseeing the supercharged expansion of Vietnam’s market, the 80-year-old was known for his “blazing furnaces” anti-corruption plan.
Mr Trong’s dying comes at a time of political turmoil for Vietnam’s Socialist management. Three of the most prominent officials have recently resigned in response to unnamed allegations of crime.
Mr. Trong passed away “due to old time and significant disease,” according to an official statement from Friday.
The Taiwanese government announced in a surprise news that Mr. Trong needed time to “focus on effective treatment” for an unnamed medical condition a day later. It added that the president may get over Mr Trong’s responsibilities in running the group’s central committee, committee and secretary.
The state also gave Mr. Trong the Gold Star, Vietnam’s highest distinction, for his contributions to the group and nation, on the same day.
When Mr. Trong welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin on a state visit, he was last seen later in June.
However, he resisted attending a number of activities before the publication of a book that contains some of his remarks.
In recent years, there were several instances where he would disappear from the public eye for long stretches of time. In 2019, he was reported to have had a stroke.
Little may be said about the state’s recent breaks, despite Mr. Trong’s frequent acknowledgement that he had health and aging problems. According to observers, the country’s power to regulate group leaders’ and state officials ‘ health serves as a way to portray Vietnam as a stable country under single-party guideline.
In 2018, the country passed a law classifying leading officers ‘ health as a state solution, prompting the now tightly-controlled regional media to be even more careful. Social media has long been a hotbed for severe rumors about his health.
Spectators claim that he hinterlies a significant but unfinished reputation. He served a unique three terms as general director before regaining control in 2011. From 2018 to 2021, he served as president during this time.
He recognized the necessity to expand Vietnam’s market; under his leadership, the nation’s GDP per person more than doubled, and Vietnam signed a number of free trade agreements with its neighbors in the West and Asia. Mr. Trong was viewed as more eager to learn about the world than his forebears, establishing ties with Mr. Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, and US leaders.
At the same time, he ardently clung on to his socialist principles. According to Zachary M. Abuza, a teacher and Southeast Asia specialist with the National War College in Washington DC, “he was a job lifelong thinker… he was a real believer,” and I think that’s why ties between Vietnam and China have grown so close.
He “always believed in keeping the party tidy and relevant so that the party could live with the country for another 1, 000 years,” he said. He therefore saw the Vietnamese Communist Party’s and the country’s future as interconnected, according to Giang Nguyen, a former BBC Vietnamese editor and visiting senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Mr Trong launched his “blazing furnaces” campaign to root out corruption that deepened in tandem with Vietnam’s growth. Approximately 200 000 officials have been charged with criminal offenses or faced disciplinary proceedings since then, according to estimates.
But there are few signs it has truly succeeded in stamping out the problem. The country still performs dismally in international corruption rankings. In recent months Vietnam has been rocked by one of its biggest fraud scandals ever, involving a staggering $44bn (£34bn) filched from banks.
The anti-corruption drive has been seen as sparking a critical shortage in the public service sector. It’s also been seen as contributing to instability within the Communist Party, where so many top officials have been purged – due to corruption or infighting – that very few are left as possible successors, particularly in the paramount political leadership team, the Politburo. Only two currently meet the conditions to inherit his post: Mr Lam and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
” The talent pool has n’t been prepared by Mr Trong. It shows he could n’t control the forces within the party anymore”, said Mr Nguyen.
Dr. Abuza argued that the anti-corruption drive” served the party in ways that]Trong ] did n’t expect, because it exposed how widespread corruption is at the party’s highest level.”
Vietnam also continued to impose stricter restrictions on human rights and the right to free speech while under his rule. It has jailed or deported scores of dissidents, activists and bloggers, and passed draconian laws limiting the press and internet.
His death, and the question of succession that it poses, puts Vietnam in uncharted waters. For many Vietnamese,” we share the feeling of anxiety of the unknown”, said Mr Nguyen.
” It is the end of an era. That version of communism or socialism, the old times, it’s now gone. What’s next is going to be very difficult to foresee. The system is still in place, but it lacks the ideology and ideals that make it so.
Additional reporting by BBC Vietnamese.