Can Vietnam’s new president check the power of its party chief?
There is a hint of wishful thinking in seeing the appointment of a four-star general as Vietnam’s new president to balance the influence of the domestic security hawks with increased authority for the military as a welcome return to normalcy in Hanoi.
Yet what power-sharing stability exists is now almost entirely divided between the military and public security apparatus – who now occupy the majority of seats in the Politburo – while most other consensus-seeking checks and balances exist to be ignored.
But whereas Trong was an ideologue who saw the concentration of power as a justifiable means to restore socialist morality to a party existentially challenged by corruption, To Lam – formerly the public security minister and Trong’s enforcer – holds no such lofty illusions. His power grab is motivated by more parochial concerns.