By Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen
HANOI (Reuters) – The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam re-elected its 76-year-old chief Nguyen Phu Trong on Sunday to a rare third five-year term as the Southeast Asian country fought the biggest coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began. .
Trong, who came out on top in a power struggle at the last congress in 2016 and had spearheaded a ‘blazing fire’ crackdown on corruption for the past five years, was given an exception to party rules that say people over 65 retiring, cementing his position as one of the country’s strongest and longest-serving leaders for decades.
“Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong was chosen as the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, term XIII,” the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
Trong’s reelection as party general secretary took place at a five-year party convention in Hanoi, where 1,600 party delegates from across Vietnam complete eight days of meetings, usually behind closed doors, to select a new leadership team, with the goal of continued economic success – and the legitimacy of the party’s rule.
((For a profile on Trong, click here https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-politics-trong-idUSKBN2A006T))
Vietnam has no supreme ruler and is officially guided by four “pillars”: the leader of the Communist Party, the most powerful post; a president; a prime minister; and the president of the National Assembly.
While the rise to the highest levels of Vietnamese politics is governed by party regulations, the highly secretive process really revolves around consensus building and the struggle for control over the decision-making Politburo.
That means that exceptions to the rules can be allowed – especially if consensus on the best candidates cannot be reached.
China’s president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Trong on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
HANOI CLOSES SCHOOLS
Since taking office in 2011, Trong has built a power base that saw him come out on top in a showdown with former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the last Congress in 2016.
His crackdown on corruption, described as politically motivated by government critics, has led to dozens of senior officials, including a member of the Politburo, being sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Trong’s re-selection by members of the ruling Communist Party came as Vietnam fights a new COVID-19 outbreak that has infected at least 221 people and has spread to at least eight cities and provinces in the country, including the Southern Economic Center from Ho Chi Minh. City and the capital Hanoi.
After the new outbreak was discovered, state media reported that the convention would end Monday, a day ahead of schedule.
The Health Ministry reported 14 new COVID-19 infections early on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,781, with 35 deaths.
Authorities in Hanoi announced on Sunday that all schools in the city would close after several residential areas and a factory in northern Hai Duong province, the epicenter of the outbreak, were closed, as the first cases of community transmission in nearly two months were discovered. last week.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Written by James Pearson; edited by William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)