Nepotist political boss may keep top job
HANOI - Reports that Communist Party secretary-general Le Kha Phieu will be replaced at
this week's party congress may be premature, according to observers who say
delegates could act with unprecedented independence in selecting Vietnam's new
leadership.
Mr Phieu, 69, a military political commissar from northern Thanh Hoa province, has
been fighting a bruising leadership challenge for months.
His fortunes in the struggle for Vietnam's most powerful political position have
ebbed and flowed, but last week Mr Phieu was censured by the party's central
committee on charges of nepotism involving the promotion of colleagues from
Thanh Hoa.
Mr Phieu was also reportedly castigated over the purchase of defective military
hardware, for providing free holidays for war veterans from his home province and
for approving unnecessary construction projects in Thanh Hoa, including a massive
bridge and a cement factory.
But the closed-door session of the committee also praised Mr Phieu – elected
secretary-general in a factional compromise in December 1997 – for his efforts to
impose administrative reforms, fight corruption and resurrect the philosophies of
revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh as guiding principles for a government that has
been losing ideological direction since tentatively embracing private enterprise in
1986.
About 1000 delegates, elected at provincial congresses or from bodies such as the
military and government ministries, will vote for a new central committee, which will
then elect a new politburo and party secretary-general.
The new committee will also nominate presidential and prime ministerial candidates
for approval by the National Assembly in a process euphemistically described as
"democratic centralism".
Congress delegates "will obviously be guided . . . by the dossiers on each candidate
prepared by the present central committee's personnel and organisation
department", said Carl Thayer of the Hawaii-based Asia-Pacific Institute of Security
Studies.
Other observers suggested 50 per cent of the current committee and seven of the
18 serving politburo members will be replaced during the course of the congress,
scheduled to begin on Thursday.
The party's preoccupation with secrecy means the process remains opaque, while
conflicting reports on the identity of Mr Phieu's successor suggest the leadership
issue remains unresolved.
Some observers suggest the reported demise of Mr Phieu as a political force should
not be seen as a foregone conclusion, with one saying congress delegates could
abandon their traditionally passive role.
"We're also going to see a lot more uniforms than we've seen at previous
congresses, and while Phieu isn't particularly popular with the military, he is still one
of their own," said one diplomatic observer.
By Huw Watkin - The Australian - April 16, 2001.
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