Vietnamese Communist Party names top cop as state president

HANOI – The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam has named police minister To Lam as the state president, the government said on May 18, and also nominated a new head of Parliament in a major leadership reshuffle.

Unprecedentedly for a one-party nation once known for its stable politics, two state presidents and a Parliament Speaker have stepped down in less than 18 months, all for unspecified “wrongdoing” amid a major anti-graft campaign that is unnerving foreign investors because of its chilling effect on bureaucracy.

After approval from Parliament, which could come next week, General Lam, 66, will replace Mr Vo Van Thuong, who stepped down in March after being accused of violating party rules, just over a year after his appointment.

Gen Lam will retain his police minister job even after being elected as state president, according to Mr Bui Van Cuong, Parliament’s general secretary.

“The Politburo hasn’t nominated a new minister of public security, and therefore the National Assembly will not vote to dismiss this post during its upcoming session,” Mr Cuong told a press conference on May 19.

Widely considered one of the most powerful figures in the country, Gen Lam was chosen by the party’s central committee earlier this week, but the authorities and state media revealed the nomination only on May 18.

In Vietnam, the president holds a largely ceremonial role but is one of the top four political positions. The others are the party chief, the prime minister and the Parliament Speaker.

Many observers see Gen Lam’s appointment as a possible step towards him becoming party chief, the country’s top job, when current terms for leadership posts end in 2026 – or even earlier, if ageing general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong steps down before his third mandate expires.

The party also named Mr Tran Thanh Man as the new chairman of the National Assembly, replacing Mr Vuong Dinh Hue, who resigned in April over “violations and shortcomings”. Mr Man, 61, has served as deputy chairman of the Parliament since 2021.

The nominations of Gen Lam and Mr Man came as the party on May 16 named four new members of the Politburo, the country’s top decision-making body, after removing its fifth-ranking leader Truong Thi Mai from the group, the sixth to leave the Politburo since late 2022 in the unprecedented series of high-level resignations.

Gold steak

Gen Lam, a career police officer, has been Minister of Public Security since 2016 and was admitted to the Politburo in 2021.

He has also been deputy head of the party’s anti-corruption steering committee since 2021, playing a key role in the anti-graft campaign that has seen thousands of officials and high-profile corporate executives prosecuted or forced to step down.

His rise has not been without controversy.

In 2021, celebrity Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, widely known as Salt Bae, uploaded a video of him feeding Gen Lam a gold-encrusted steak at his London restaurant while Vietnam was under a Covid-19 lockdown. The video went viral before the chef removed it.

A noodle vendor in Vietnam who later posted a video imitating Salt Bae was sentenced to five years in prison for “anti-state propaganda”.

Gen Lam was the head of the Public Security Ministry when, in 2017, Vietnam’s security services allegedly carried out an extraordinary rendition of a Vietnamese business executive from Germany through Slovakia. The case rattled relations with both countries. REUTERS