At the 14th Party Congress of the Communist Party, which begins on Monday in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, the incumbent Parteichef To Lam was officially elected to this position by the highest party committee for the first time. When the now 68-year-old became party leader (general secretary) two years ago, he succeeded his late predecessor in office on an interim basis. Communist party conferences only take place every five years.
Tô Lâm is a domestic political hardliner and comes from the police security apparatus. According to the Berlin Court of Appeal, he was the client in 2017 Kidnapping of renegade official Trịnh Xuân Thanh from Berlin to Hanoi. According to international reports, Tô Lâm, who has actually already exceeded the party’s internal age limit, is now aiming for the office of president at the week-long party conference. Actually a no-go in Vietnam.
Power in the party and state is traditionally shared between the party leader, state president, prime minister and parliamentary speaker. Since Hồ Chí Minh’s death, these offices have always gone to four different people, who were allocated according to region and had to come from business and the security apparatus. There were only short-term exceptions to this “collective leadership” when a member of the leadership quartet died. Until 2016, one of these four offices always went to a woman.
For some time it was said that Defense Minister and Army General Phan Văn Giang wanted to run against Tô Lâm. It remains to be seen whether this will actually happen at the party conference, also known as the “14th National Congress”. But the party leadership must involve the military more closely in order to maintain peace within the party.
Tô Lâm increased the repression
Hanoi was conspicuously decorated with red flags, banners and flowers for the Congress of the Communist Party, which has 5.6 million members and is the only legal political party. The almost 1,600 delegates will be driven to the event site in military vehicles rocket launcher and Anti-aircraft guns protect.
The military also oversees the counting of votes for leadership election. Since the Southeast Asian country is not under acute external threat, it is apparently an inward-looking show of force by the military against the police.
While Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world until the 1990s, it is now an emerging country and aims to become an industrial country by 2045. The economy is currently growing by 8 percent. An administrative reform launched in 2024 is intended to reduce bureaucracy and simplify administrative structures, but so far has led to chaos and dissatisfaction for many people.
Under Tô Lâm the fight against widespread corruption receded. This was still at the forefront of politics at the last party congresses, but primarily served the power struggle within the party. High-profile action was taken against party cadres at all levels and even against ministers.
Instead of fighting widespread corruption, domestic politics is now primarily aimed at those who think differently. According to the human rights organization Human Rigths Watch Arrests of suspected dissidents, independent bloggers and democracy activists have increased before the party conference.
Facebook likes fines
On January 7, police in Hanoi arrested blogger Hoang Thi Hong Thai, a mother of several children, including an autistic child, for making anti-government comments on social media. Were on December 31st Two journalists living in Germany were sentenced in absentia to prison terms of 17 years for their critical reports been. State media reported fines for people who shared or liked their posts on social networks. Today, despite economic satisfaction, there is an atmosphere of fear among many people.
This also includes the fact that Vietnam is expanding digital surveillance at a rapid pace. A new regulation promises people tax relief and faster appointments with authorities if they constantly update their data in government online services, such as doctor’s appointments and shopping habits, and if they post government-compliant comments online. Digital facial recognition on streets based on the Chinese model is also planned.