Future Of Vietnam Communist Party Head Seen In Doubt
HANOI - Divisions within Vietnam's Communist Party in the final days ahead of a key party congress threaten
to unseat the country's top leader, party General-Secretary Le Kha Phieu, officials said Tuesday.
The 165-member Central Committee, in a meeting that ended Tuesday, voted against recommending that the National Party
Congress retain Phieu in his post, party officials said.
It was a surprising break from previous years, when the committee followed the powerful 18-member Politburo, the innermost
political circle. Earlier this week, two-thirds of the largely conservative Politburo had thrown their support behind Phieu, fearing
the uncertainties of a leadership change.
The Central Committee vote could mean Phieu will lose his post in the party congress, which begins April 19. The committee is
charged with submitting recommendations for leadership changes to the congress, which is held every five years. The party
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say how the vote split in the committee.
National Assembly Speaker Nong Duc Manh, belonging to the ethnic Tay minority, is emerging as a strong candidate to
replace Phieu, party officials said.
Over the past few months, Phieu has been in a roller-coaster campaign to cling to power amid intense infighting among political
factions. Phieu, a conservative who turns 70 in December, has been accused of lackluster leadership since taking office in
1997.
However, recent ethnic unrest in the Central Highlands and stepped-up criticism of the Communist government by dissident
religious groups had seemed to bolster Phieu's position by encouraging conservatism.
The last-minute erosion of his support seems to indicate deep discontent with Phieu's leadership.
President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Vietnam's other two top leaders, are expected to keep their
jobs, the party officials said.
The Associated Press - April 10, 2001.
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