The appearance of former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in a number of recent political events has raised speculation about his possibility of returning to politics. However, most opinions say that his return to the country’s leadership is unlikely.
The reason is that Dung is 75 years old and does not have high ambitions for power. Instead, he can play the role of advisor or strategist, supporting incumbent leaders such as General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and a number of other senior officials.
However, on November 17, images of former PM Dung’s 75th birthday appeared on social networks at his private home on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 3, HCM City, with many flower baskets from high-ranking officials of the Communist Party of Vietnam, including former “Four Pillars.”
Former officials who were foced to retire by Lam such as Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vo Van Thuong, and many other officials also attended, or sent flower baskets to congratulate. Even newly-elected State President Luong Cuong, who has just suffered a sexual scandal during his visit in Chile and is currently on a foreign tour, also sent gifts to congratulate.
According to observers, this shows that the influence of Dung is still very large in Vietnamese politics. Even though in name, Dung was forced by late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to retire since his failure after the race for the General Secretary position at the 12th Party National Congress in 2016.
General Secretary just returned from a visit to Bach Long Vi Island, immediately visited Ca Mau – Dung’s hometown, nominally to attend the “National Unity Day” ceremony. Lam became the central figure of the ceremony.
Public opinion has many opinions about Dung’s birthday, notably, there are many opinions of admiration and regret for late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The reason is that after General Trong passed away, Dung – his political opponent, who once made General Secretary Trong “crazy and confused,” now leisurely returned to participate in politics.
When Trong became a person of the past, the Vietnamese people still did not forget Dung’s “mysterious” smile at Trong’s state funeral. That shows that, until the end of his life, when he was buried in peace, Trong was still a failure. Not only because he could not remove the thorn of Dung, but also because he let his opponent and close followers dominate and control the political arena.
According to international analysts, Trong is remembered for his strong anti-corruption campaign, called the “furnace campaign.” However, the majority believe that the “furnace campaign” has weakened the Party’s institutions and caused serious turmoil within the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The fact that Trong’s state funeral has so far shown that public attention has gradually cooled, causing Trong’s image to quickly fade into the past. Moreover, some opinions say that General Secretary Trong had an overly close relationship with Beijing. He has even been accused of being a “prefect” of Beijing sitting in Hanoi. At the same time, this could be a sign of Vietnam’s increasing political dependence on China.
Since then, China has been influencing the selection of high-ranking personnel in Vietnam. Specifically, China is said to have chosen to use Cuong – who is close to Trong and has a close relationship with Beijing, to keep Vietnam in its orbit of influence.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
