Former Standing Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s Secretariat Dinh The Huynh, after more than 6 years of disappearance from politics, suddenly appeared to receive the 50-year party membership badge in the capital Hanoi.
Huynh is a famous Vietnamese politician, once considered the “right-hand man” of late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. He was once considered one of the “successors” to the top position of the ruling party, when General Secretary Trong withdrew.
The sudden disappearance of former Standing Member of the Secretariat Huynh from politics since 2017 has caused many doubts, as well as many different speculations about the reason for this mysterious disappearance. But there has been no official answer from the Vietnamese government.
In July 2017, journalist Huy Duc, a journalist well-informed with leadership’s stories, revealed that after going to Japan for medical treatment, Huynh had returned to Vietnam. Immediately afterwards, some sources said that Huynh’s absence could be related to political upheavals within the party.
Specifically, Huynh is said to have a close relationship with Politburo member Dinh La Thang and State President Tran Dai Quang, in the Ha Nam Ninh compatriots group. This was a faction within the Party considered to be the political opponents of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
After the 12th Party National Congress, in early July 2016, Chinese intelligence discovered that this political group, led by State President Tran Dai Quang, was joining hands to prepare a plan to remove General Secretary Trong. The purpose was for Quang to become General Secretary, and Huynh to take the position of State President.
Immediately, the purge campaign by Beijing and General Secretary Trong officially began. Thang, who was then Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, was the first person Trong targeted. Thang was considered the right-hand man of former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and at the same time a king who was too far from the control of Trong’s faction.
The second person was former police general Quang, then State President. However, Quang still had many juniors in the Ministry of Public Security, and Quang was also a “Four Pillars” figure, making it impossible for Trong to publicly overthrow him. Trong asked Beijing’s leaders to take action.
The last person was Huynh, who was a close associate of Trong, so the handling was very easy. On March 2, 2018, the Politburo decided to let Huynh resign from his position to continue long-term treatment. In addition, Tran Quoc Vuong – Chairman of the Central Committee’s Commission for Inspection was assigned to take on the role of Standing Secretary of the Secretariat to replace Huynh.
The above information shows that Huynh has lost his political position due to his involvement in power struggles within the party. General Secretary Trong’s removal of Huynh and his faction, but could not use the excuse of “anti-party”, because the party did not want the public to see the internal power struggle.
With the support of China, General Secretary Trong discovered and took action to remove HUynh, helping to consolidate his power. Huynh’s fate is a testament to the extremely fierce power struggles within Vietnamese politics.
After Huynh went to Japan for medical treatment, he was then taken to Phu Quoc which is considered the “fortress” of former PM Dung. According to observers, the reappearance of Huynh this time shows that Dung is attracting and gathering more forces to support General Secretary To Lam.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
