With Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s death, Tô Lâm is increasingly alone in command
The general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the first to obtain three mandates, dies at the age of eighty. His powers were transferred yesterday to the former Minister of Public Security who, through his anti-corruption campaign, has removed his rivals from the succession race. Nguyễn Phú Trọng was the first successor to Hồ Chí Minh to be received at the Vatican by Pope Benedict in 2013, at a key moment in the evolution of relations with the Holy See.
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary General Nguyễn Phú Trọng, the country’s most powerful man, died a few hours after he was admitted to hospital, Vietnamese authorities announced.
Aged 80, he had led the party founded by Hồ Chí Minh since 2011. Thanks to his hold on power, he was able to get the party to change term limitations at the last Party congress, and, despite his advanced age, win a third mandate until January 2026.
In recent months, he began to cut back on his public appearances, and rumours swirled about his poor health. Yesterday, as things got worse, the Party announced his hospitalisation, adding that Vietnamese President Tô Lâm, the number 2 in the country’s hierarchy, would replace him temporarily.
Nguyễn Phú Trọng's exit comes at a time of great political fibrillation in Hanoi.
Tô Lâm, 67, a former Minister of Public Security, seems to have managed to beat almost all his rivals for the succession, with several top party figures swept away by "burning furnace", a massive anti-corruption campaign underway.
Particularly significant was the sudden resignation in March of President Võ Văn Thưởng, who was considered very close to Nguyễn Phú Trọng and his most likely successor.
Now, with the official transfer of power yesterday a few hours before the death of the elderly leader, Tô Lâm is clearly the leading figure in the new political season.
It remains to be seen if he will maintain the interim position of party general secretary until 2026 or will immediately seek official consecration, by moving up the party congress.
Certainly, the new boss is still holding tight control over the Ministry of Public Security, where he has placed a loyalist from his home province.
Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s death means that the main architect of Vietnam’s "bamboo diplomacy" leaves the scene. The late party boss himself coined the expression in 2016, suggesting that the country was as strong and resistant as bamboo, but also flexible and ready to adapt to situations.
Under his leadership, Vietnam opened the doors of its economy, multiplying free trade agreements with Western countries and Asian neighbours, without cutting its historic ties with Beijing and Moscow.
This geopolitical balancing act has allowed Vietnam to double its GDP per capita and turn to new strategic sectors like semiconductor and electric car markets.
Finally, it should be noted that Nguyễn Phú Trọng also played an important role in the recent rapprochement between Vietnam and the Vatican.
In January 2013 he was the first general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to visit the Vatican. With a large delegation of party officials, he was welcomed by Benedict XVI, a few days before the pontiff announced his historic resignation that ended his pontificate.
That meeting – which was part of the journey that began in 2009 with the establishment of the joint working group between Hanoi and the Holy See – was a key moment that led last year to the historic agreement by virtue of which Archbishop Marek Zalewsky today is the Vatican permanent papal resident representative to Vietnam.
Last December, then-President Võ Văn Thưởng officially invited Pope Francis to visit the Southeast Asian country. This spring, the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, travelled to Vietnam amid talk of re-establishing full diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.
All this will now have to wait until the new political phase opened by Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s death works itself out.
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