The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has had a new lineup of members of the Central Committee for the 13th tenure with ten “special” cases, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected as the party’s chief for the third consecutive term while the Congress announced no amendment of the party charter.
Two Vietnamese political observers commented to BBC News Vietnamese on whether this signal could be understood and whether there would be any consequences when the Congress decided not to amend the party charter.
From Hanoi, Dr. Ha Hoang Hop, a guest senior researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas – Yusof Ishak of Singapore) stated:
“The 13th Congress elected Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong as General Secretary for the 3rd consecutive term, which in my opinion is contrary to the Party Charter of 2011 (Article 17).
At the meeting, 100% of delegates voted to approve the recommendation of Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong for re-election and agreed not to amend the charter.
Electing Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong as General Secretary for the 3rd consecutive session, will not be contrary to the Charter if Article 17 has had amended. It is a fundamental violation of the Charter as it cannot be said otherwise.”
From Saigon, lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, head of the Law Office of the same name, said:
“Since the Communist Party is the only political party that holds complete leadership over the country, therefore, the public pays a lot of attention to the Party Charter including the (hard) rules that cannot be violated. Article 17 of the Statutes of the Communist Party stipulates that a person cannot hold the position of General Secretary for no more than two consecutive terms.”
“In fact, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong continues to be elected by the congress to hold the position of General Secretary for the third term, in the situation where there is no amendment of the Party Charter is quite strange and should not be encouraged.”
“Since one thing of the forcible Party Charter is nullified, can the other things still be enforced? Obviously, this will lower the status of the Charter. At the same time, it creates undesirable precedents.”
When asked why the Congress did not revise the party’s charter, whether there were any objective and subjective reasons leading to this decision, the observers answered:
“The 13th Congress did not state the reason for not revising Article 17 of the 2011 Charter, so it could not be deduced. It was a fact,” said Mr. Ha Hoang Hop.
And Mr. Dang Dinh Manh replied:
“I don’t know the reason for the failure to amend the Party’s Charter, but as a lawyer, I also look forward to a satisfactory explanation for this.”
What are the highlights and attention to the new staff?
Mr. Pham Minh Chinh is considered to be a notable highlight of personnel at the 13th CPV’s Congress, according to lawyer Dang Dinh Manh.
To the question of whether there could be any highlight, or was there any attention not visible through the new CPV staffing staff reassigned and reassigned in the power branches of the party and government after the 13th Congress, the observers told BBC:
“All personnel assignments during and after the 13th Congress will take place after the Lunar New Year, late February, early March 2021, when there is a National Assembly meeting for that based on key personnel recommendations and other personnel approved by the 12th Central Committee and 13th Central Committee (after the Congress),” said Mr. Ha Hoang Hop.
“Seven ministers who are not re-elected for the 13th term will be replaced by seven new ones, who are members of the 13th Central Committee, of which the position of defense minister is important. Incumbent ministers elected to the Politburo, or have completed two consecutive terms, will be removed to other posts.”
“The 13th Congress was rated as ‘very good success’ by the Communist Party of Vietnam, so it probably implies that their personnel is expected to be able to complete their political, economic, defense tasks, security, foreign affairs, culture, and society. People will see that hope in the coming reality.”
Mr. Dang Dinh Manh from his perspective stated:
“The highlight and the most notable personnel unknown, in my opinion, is Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, who is expected to be promoted as prime minister.
“Because, Mr. Chinh has experienced many important positions in the police force, in the party organization, but never held any position in the government. That is the point that the public can be more or less worried about. However, with the method of teamwork, maybe his associates will help him overcome the lack of experience.”
“The political conditions do not yet allow the people to exercise their right to proper freedom of election, so I can only say that I hope for that.”
In response to the question, the CPV has just marked 91 years of the party’s founding, what can be said about the party, the future, the money of this political organization as well as about the future Vietnamese politics, the answers are:
“The Communist Party of Vietnam wants to maintain a long-term role in power, according to the phrase in the slogan that the Vietnamese Communist Party ‘for forever’,” said Mr. Ha Hoang Hop.
“Over the past 91 years, the Communist Party of Vietnam has made some changes. The Party Law is an issue that has been raised since 2009 until now the National Assembly has not discussed in detail.”
“Sooner or later, in my opinion, Vietnam will have the practice of political pluralism where the Communist Party of Vietnam can interact politically with other political parties, contributing to bringing prosperity and democracy to Vietnam.”
For his part, Mr. Dang Dinh Manh said:
“Currently, Vietnam is still an underdeveloped country, people’s lives are still very difficult, both materially and spiritually, including exercising citizens’ freedoms according to the Constitution.”
“Therefore, I still very much expect a major change in the political position of the Communist Party. Because, as a comprehensive leader, they are holding the destiny of this country.”
“The change towards national harmony, national reconciliation, acceptance of differences in political views, applying values that are the achievements of mankind in the management and administration of the country … to be able to gather, unifying all the resources of the people in the work of revival and dealing with challenges of national sovereignty.”
“But as the 13th Congress ended, I know that my expectations have to wait.”
Thoibao.de (Translated)
Source: https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/vietnam-55949456
