True to previous speculations, Vo Van Thuong was forced to resign as State President, after just over 13 months in power – something extremely unusual.
Dan Tri newspaper reported on March 20 “The Central Committee agrees to let Vo Van Thuong step down as State President.” The news said that on March 20, the 13th Party Central Committee held a meeting to discuss the termination of positions of Mr. Vo Van Thuong – Member of the Politburo in the 13th term and State President.
According to the Central Committee’s Commission for Inspection and the authorities, Thuong has violated the regulations on what party members cannot do, and must be held responsible as the leader, according to the Party’s regulations and State laws.
Considering Thuong’s personal wishes and violations, the Central Committee agreed to let him resign from all positions.
According to analysts, two officials were dismissed as State President in more than a year, and at the same time four out of 18 members of the Politburo as well as 20 out of 200 members of the Party Central Committee of the 13th term were out. This shows that the quality of the cadre work of Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, is very problematic.
The reasons why Thuong was dismissed were officially confirmed for the first time. In an analysis by author Le Hong Hiep, posted on the Fulcrum website, with the title, “Two Presidents dismissed: What political prospects for Vietnam?” Accordingly:
“Thuong is believed to be involved in a bribery scandal, involving local real estate developer Phuc Son, who is currently being probed for various corruption crimes. Unofficial but reliable sources said that during the time he was Secretary of the Quang Ngai provincial Party Committee (2011-2014), a relative of Thuong received VND60 billion ($2.4 million) from Phuc Son, is said to have [bribed] Thuong to build his ancestral temple. This is completely consistent with previous speculations.
According to Le Hong Hiep, Thuong’s departure will cause concern for investors. And, General Secretary Trong’s health problems along with a successor yet to be selected, “may increase political infighting during the next National Party Congress in early 2026.” More importantly, this increases investors’ concerns.
According to analysts, who will sit in the “hot position” of State President that Mr. Thuong left behind is of great significance, especially in the fierce race to win the position of General Secretary to replace Trong. Currently, qualified candidates to replace Thuong include: General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai, and Minister of Public Security To Lam.
Minister To Lam and Truong Thi Mai are said to be candidates who meet the prescribed standards. However, in Vietnam, there is no precedent for a woman holding the position of President, and this could become an obstacle for Mai. Furthermore, Mai was also implicated in corruption-related allegations that occurred in Lam Dong province.
Fabooker Hoang Dung asked a question on his personal Facebook page: “Will Lam Dong province Secretary Tran Duc tell Mr. To Lam about building and buying a house for Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai?”
Therefore, there is a high possibility that To Lam will serve as State President, which allows him to seek an “exceptional” position, when he is too old to stay at the 14th National Congress. Even though, the position of Minister To Lam’s current police position is a “super powerful.”
Therefore, the most important issue is still, who will be Minister of Public Security? Luong Tam Quang, Nguyen Duy Ngoc, or Phan Dinh Trac will be the bottleneck of the problem.
Well-informed sources from Hanoi revealed to Thoibao.de that currently, To Lam no longer hides his ambition to become General Secretary and State President, following China’s political model like Xi Jinping, like Nguyen Phu Trong in 2018.
As a reminder, Minister of Public Security To Lam has a special relationship and is strongly supported by the Beijing leadership. At this point, if To Lam becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnamese politics will be tightly tied to China, and everyone knows what Vietnam’s future will be./.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
