Wang Dinh Hue resigned, and Vietnam's "troika" lost another member in 37 days

According to Xinhua News Agency, the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam held a meeting on the 26th and agreed to Ong Dinh Hue's resignation as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

Vietnam's official news agency Vietnam News Agency (VNA) wrote in a report on 26 June that Comrade Ong Dinh Hue is a principal leading cadre of the party and the state, who has received basic training and has grown up at the grassroots level, and has been assigned to many important leading posts in the party and state. However, according to the reports of the Central Inspection Commission and various functional organs, Comrade Ong Dinh Hue violated the "Prohibition on the Conduct of Party Members" and the "Regulations on the Role of Cadres and Party Members as Role Models" by assuming the responsibility of the responsible person in accordance with the Party Constitution and Party regulations and state laws, especially the exemplary responsibilities of members of the Political Bureau, the Secretariat and the Central Committee of the CPV Central Committee. Wang Tinghui's violations and shortcomings have aroused bad public opinion and affected the reputation of the party, the state, and Comrade Wang Tinghui personally. Comrade Wang Tinghui was well aware of his responsibilities to the party, the state, and the people, and submitted an application for resignation from his post and resignation from his work. In accordance with the current regulations of the Party and the state, taking into account the wishes of Comrade Ong Dinh Hue, the Party Central Committee agreed to the resignation of Comrade Ong Dinh Hue from the posts of member of the Political Bureau of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, member of the Central Committee, and chairman of the 15th Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the term of 2021-2026.

In the past two years, Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign has continued, with a succession of resignations from senior leaders implicated in corruption cases, including Vietnamese President Vo Van Thanh, who resigned on March 20 this year. With the resignation of Ong Dinh Hue, Vietnam has lost two important leaders in its "troika". Carré Thayer, an emeritus professor at Australia's University of New South Wales and an expert on Vietnam studies, who has repeatedly advised Vietnam's governments at all levels, told The Paper, "Overall, these resignations demonstrate the accountability of Viet Cong officials: no matter how senior they are, they can pay the price for corruption." ”

Wang Tinghui is one of the "four troikas" who are familiar with the economic field

Originally from northern Vietnam, Wang Tinghui has studied in Eastern Europe, and his party and government work experience covers economic fields such as finance, auditing, and state-owned assets. According to a 2021 report by the Vietnam News Agency, on March 31 of that year, Vietnam's National Assembly voted to elect Ong Dinh Hue, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and then secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee, as the chairman of the National Assembly and the chairman of the National Election Committee. According to biographical information, Wang Dinh Hue was born in Nghe An Province on the north coast of Vietnam in 1957, joined the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1984, and is a member of the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a member of the 12th and 13th Central Committee of the Political Bureau, and a deputy to the 13th and 14th National Assembly.

According to an earlier report by the Global Times, Vietnam's political arena has a "troika" pattern composed of the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the president of the state, the prime minister of the government, and the chairman of the National Assembly. As chairman of the National Assembly, Ong Dinh Hue is one of Vietnam's "four troikas" and was ranked third in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam before he left office. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on March 20, the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam held a meeting on the same day and agreed to approve the resignation of Vo Van Thuong as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the president of Vietnam. It was only one year since Vo Van Thanh took over from Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who resigned on March 2, 2023, making him the shortest-serving president to date. Wang Tinghui's resignation means that the "troika" pattern has been hit again in the short term.

Vietnamese politics has already signaled a possible resignation from Ong Dinh Hue. According to a release from Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security on April 22, Pham Thai Ha, assistant to the president of the National Assembly and deputy director of the General Office of the National Assembly, has been arrested on suspicion of abuse of power. The "assistants" in Vietnam's political arena are often senior officials, and only members of the Politburo, the Secretariat, and leaders such as vice presidents, vice premiers, and vice presidents of the National Assembly are appointed.

The 48-year-old Pham Tae Ha has a close relationship with Wang Tinghui and also has extensive experience in the economic field, with professional knowledge and work experience in the fields of economics, auditing and finance. Since 2016, Ong Dinh Hue has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Vietnamese Government, Secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee and Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam. Pham Thai Ha has been following Ong Dinh Hue for a long time, successively serving as assistant to the vice premier, assistant to the secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee, and assistant to the chairman of the National Assembly.

According to the Vietnamese police, Pham Thai Ha was arrested on suspicion of "using his power to influence others for personal gain", which is related to the police investigation into the bribery case of the construction company Thuan An Group. Founded in 2004, Thuan An Group has successfully bid for at least 39 projects, including a number of bridges, highways and canal improvement projects in Ho Chi Minh City, with a total value of more than 22.6 trillion VND (about 6.46 billion yuan), according to Reuters, Vietnamese media VnExpress and other media reports. Thuan An Group's chairman Nguyễn Duy Hưng and deputy general manager Nguyễn Duy Hưng were arrested on April 15 for violating bidding regulations with serious consequences and bribery, while general manager Tran Anh Quang was arrested for accepting bribes and three officials from the northern province of Bac Giang were also detained.

Accountability?

The resignations of leaders such as Vu Van Hue, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Pham Binh Minh, and Vu Duc Thanh before Ong Dinh Hue all embody the characteristics of "joint and several political responsibility". In January 2023, Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Yen were removed for "political responsibility" in anti-epidemic corruption cases, after their assistants were detained by the police. Nguyen Xuan Phuc's resignation in the same month was to "take political responsibility" for a series of corruption cases involving the coronavirus epidemic, such as nucleic acid testing. Pan Jin'e, a second-level researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on Vietnam studies, previously told The Paper that Wu Wenxian's resignation was implicated in the crimes of his subordinates when he was the secretary of the Guangyi Provincial Party Committee (2011-2014), and he had to bear the responsibility of being the head of the unit.

Nguyen Thanh Giang, a visiting researcher at the Issa Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore's Yusof Yisa, told Lianhe Zaobao newspaper that a document released by the Communist Party in 2017 stipulated that officials would trigger internal disciplinary proceedings if they "lacked management and supervision of their subordinates and made wrong decisions in the selection of key personnel."

Nguyen Thanh Giang believes that the arrest of Pham Thai Ha shows the Viet Cong's determination to purge corrupt officials who play the role of "godfathers" in public investment projects. "For a long time, some officials of the Communist Party of Vietnam manipulated the bidding process and even organized 'fake tenders' to help well-connected companies win bids in order to reap millions of dollars in kickbacks," Nguyen Thanh Giang said. ”

Behind the anti-corruption agenda is the "Dot Lo" campaign launched by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong. In an interview with The Paper, Carl Thayer said that the anti-corruption campaign launched by Nguyen Phu Trong had built credibility and legitimacy for the Viet Cong.

"According to Nguyen Phu Trong's anti-corruption agenda, officials who violate the law will be tried and imprisoned for violating the law, and they will also be held accountable for corruption outside the law because of the responsibilities of cadres and party members...... Both the public security department and the party discipline department have played a role in the fight against corruption. Carlyle Thayer said, "Prior to Vo Van Thuong's resignation, Vietnam's official statement affirmed his contributions and achievements. According to Thayer, the existence of accountability for Viet Cong officials has led to punishment for officials regardless of rank, but "if they are willing to stand up and admit their mistakes, they can at least retain some dignity and retire peacefully from their posts despite losing power."

In the face of the assertion that political volatility in Vietnam may affect confidence in the Vietnamese market, Carlyle Thayer believes that Vietnam is still in a stage where "business opportunities are more than ever", such as the recent visit of the largest American business delegation in the country's history, and the diplomatic expansion of a number of strategic partner countries in a short period of time. However, there is still a lack of consensus in the political situation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and there are problems such as the age group and the waiting for a replacement. Carlyle Thayer said. (According to The Paper)