REFORMIST Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is not on the candidate list for the Communist Party’s next central committee, indicating his bid to move into a senior party role has failed.
Congress delegates approved the withdrawal of Dung from nominations for the committee that will oversee the party’s affairs until 2020, three party officials said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. Dung is reaching the end of his maximum two terms as premier, and without a key post his influence over Vietnam’s economic and security policies is set to diminish.
Under party rules, Dung’s withdrawal of his nomination—a technical formality—had to then be rejected by congress delegates for him to stay in contention for party general secretary, one of the most influential roles in the country. Instead, party leaders have fallen behind current General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who represents a more conservative faction, in his efforts to secure another term.
“If Dung is not a central committee member, he is out,” said Nguyen Manh Hung, professor emeritus at George Mason University in Virginia. “He is retired. He will not be back. He did not have enough votes.”
Dung has opened the economy to greater market forces and expanded ties with the US, Vietnam’s former wartime foe, but also faced months of political infighting. At stake for the new leadership is how much—or how fast—Vietnam moves away from Communist neighbor China, with whom it has territorial disputes, and toward the US. Under Dung, Vietnam has backed a large US-led Pacific trade pact that does not include China.
The congress voted on a new central committee on Tuesday, and that group will elect the new general secretary. President Truong Tan Sang also withdrew from the nominations for the committee, according to the party officials. Representatives of Dung’s office were unavailable for comment on Tuesday morning.
Dung will probably opt to retire rather then risk weakening the party, said Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He is due to step down as premier after the National Assembly votes on his presumed successor, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in May or June.
Destabilizing party
“I think one of the biggest concerns for him was if he kept fighting on, it would have destabilized the party system, and once the party system was unsettled, he and his family would suffer,” Hiep said.
Vietnamese stocks on Monday posted the steepest advance since 2012 following Trong’s nomination for general secretary. Valuations last week sank to a five-month low amid political uncertainty. The benchmark index dropped 0.8 percent as of midday Tuesday.
Trong’s influence over the politburo and party procedures made him a formidable rival, Hiep said. Still, his success caught some observers by surprise, given Dung retains his own supporters.
“The party congress has spoken,” said George Mason University’s Hung, referring to Dung. “The next question is: will he be given an opportunity to represent Vietnam at the US-Asean Sunnylands summit and redeem himself with diplomatic success?”
California meeting
U.S. President Barack Obama will host leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next month in California, the first such gathering hosted in the US. The Obama administration is seeking to preserve America’s influence in the region against China’s growing military clout which is backed by its increased economic heft.
Frictions rose this month after Chinese planes landed on a new airstrip on reclaimed islands in the Spratly islands chain, triggering protests from Vietnam. Vietnam said on January 19 it had demanded that China remove an oil rig it has parked in disputed waters.
The party congress also sets the tone for economic policy. An online draft of the five-year economic plan calls for supporting the private sector with “equal access” to credit, land and other resources.
Dung has pushed to speed up the privatization of state-owned companies, which often get preferential access to loans and land. While the nation is set to be one of the fastest- growing economies in the world, local, private firms have struggled to benefit even as foreign manufacturers reap the export boom.
Image credits: AP
1 comment
Go to hell with your chinese single paty Mr. Phu