On November 3, the General Department of Intelligence (General Department II) had a general replacement, – Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Hung, Director General for over 10 years, was replaced by Lieutenant General Tran Cong Chinh.
The replacement of an important position, deciding the survival between factions in the army, at this time, is considered unusual. This is a midstream horse change that attracts public attention. Normally, only when fighting leads to elimination in politics, would a horse be replaced midstream like this.
The position of Director General of General Department 2 has been held by Gen. Hung for 11 years. It is worth mentioning that he was over the retirement age 4 years ago, but he still tried to hold on. The reason is said to be that the factions, especially Defense Minister Phan Van Giang’s faction in the army, wanted Gen. Hung to guard the secret data warehouse of General Department 2, so that Giang and Prime Minister Chinh would be safe.
When To Lam became General Secretary, he clearly showed his intention to attack PM Chinh, starting from the Advanced International Co. (AIC) case. He has used all means, including finding a way to arrest AIC’s Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan and bring her to justice, and at the same time, remove Gen. Hung from General Department 2.
Lam had enough reasons to push Gen. Hung away, to force General Giang to replace him. However, who will replace Hung is what the public is interested in.
Gen. Chinh is originally from General Department 2, specializing in propaganda. It is not known which faction he belongs to, it is very likely that he is someone recommended by Gen. Hung. However, whether Chinh can perform well the function of “gatekeeper” like Hung or not, needs time to verify.
Minister Giang’s faction was pushed into a difficult situation, and could no longer use the excuse of a lack of people to keep Hung. Moreover, having kept him for 4 years, it is impossible not to replace him.
However, General Department 2 is an agency that plays an important role, deciding the political fate of both Minister Giang and PM Chinh. Because this is the place that recruited and used Nhan as an intermediary in the arms deal with Israel. This is considered the place that holds many secrets of Nhan, officials of the Defense Ministry along with the PM, through the above arms deals.
In the army, Lam’s faction has 2 strategic generals. The first is Hoang Xuan Chien, who is cherishing the ambition to compete for the position of Defense Minister in the next term. Chien currently holds the rank of Senior Lieutenant General, member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Defense Minister. Second is Lieutenant General Nguyen Hong Thai, member of the Party Central Committee, Commander of Military Region 1. Thai is capable of being the Director General of General Department 2. However, in this mid-stream change of horses in General Department 2, Lam’s faction has not been able to get in.
The capture of Nhan is considered an impossible task for Lam. Now, the biggest task is how Lam’s faction to take over the data warehouse of General Department 2. If Lam can recruit Chinh, it will be a great success for Lam and the Hung Yen faction.
It seems that there is a big change in the army. General Giang is said to have a terminal illness. He is expected to retire soon and replaced by General Nguyen Tan Cuong – who was recently promoted to the rank of General along with Police chief Luong Tam Quang.
While General Giang still has power, Chinh can rest assured because both are sitting on the same boat, General Giang cannot let the boat capsize. General Giang protects the outer layer, Gen. Hung protects the inner layer. Now Hung has been replaced, if General Giang is also replaced, it can be said that Chinh’s fate is “hanging by a thread.”
It is very possible that replacing Gen. Hung is just the beginning, in the coming time, there will be many major changes in personnel in the Defense Ministry.
Let’s wait and see!
Tran Chuong – Thoibao.de
