Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary in ICU, President To Lam takes charge

Hanoi - The Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has assigned President To Lam to take charge of the Party’s top decision-making bodies: The Central Executive Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat. This would “allow General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to focus on intensive care treatment,” according to a brief announcement made public today in state media.

Mr. Trong, aged 80, has been in and out of hospital numerous times over the last several years and is said to have survived multiple strokes. But this is the first time the Politburo moved to announce publicly his extended leave and the de facto acting General Secretary.

President To Lam took office in late May after a series of top officials resigned due to violations of party rules, including President Vo Van Thuong and his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his presumed successor Truong Thi Mai. All these officials were fuel for the so-called “burning furnace”, a long-running anti-corruption campaign initiated by Mr. Trong more than 10 years ago which has exposed thousands of corrupt officials at all levels of government. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) led by General To Lam has been instrumental in that effort.

President To Lam has also been a key driver of digital transformation in the government sector. Under his leadership at MPS, the ministry managed to cobble together sufficient political support, funding and massive manpower to execute Project 06, which builds the national database for citizens and a host of applications using that database to deliver E-government public services. While there is considerable concern with data localization and licensing requirements in cybersecurity regulations drafted by MPS under his watch, To Lam has been one of the most accessible high-level Vietnamese officials to the business community, including the Council and our member companies. As MPS minister, he has met with our companies every time we requested for the last several years and the discussions were always substantive and result-oriented. He was also one of key the initiators and drivers of Vietnam’s Strategic Comprehensive Partnership with the United States announced last September during President Biden’s visit to Hanoi.

President To Lam’s leadership in the CPV is expected to complement that of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the government to accelerate reforms and usher in a new period of growth.