Strange signs after the arrest of Mr. Pham Thai Ha, assistant of Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue

The Government Information page on Facebook suddenly disappeared on April 24 and 25. The Vietnam National Assembly’s electronic information portal was under maintenance on the afternoon of April 25 amid speculation about senior personnel changes.

The newly updated work schedule of a member of the Party Central Committee shows that this person will go on a business trip on April 26 in Hanoi.

More than a month ago, on March 20, the Party Central Committee held an extraordinary meeting to decide on Mr. Vo Van Thuong’s resignation as president. This meeting was never announced to the outside world. However, at that time, BBC News Vietnamese relied on the meeting schedules of some officials Provincial and ministerial levels are members of the Party Central Committee to determine that on that afternoon, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, there will be a meeting.

True to the information we gave, the Party Central Committee met on the afternoon of March 20 and agreed to let Mr. Thuong “resign”.

Now, after the arrest of Mr. Pham Thai Ha, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office, Assistant to the National Assembly Chairman, the responsibilities of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue have also been raised.

In the previous article, BBC News Vietnamese has pointed out Regulations of the Communist Party of Vietnam (Regulation 41-QD/TW 2021) require leaders to resign or be dismissed in case of wrongdoing or negativity in the agency they lead.

Mr. Pham Thai Ha is a close figure to Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, and is an employee under Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue’s management at the National Assembly, so setting out Mr. Hue’s responsibilities is necessary and in accordance with regulations. decision of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The Government Information page on Facebook suddenly disappeared from the platform on April 24.

On April 25, the National Assembly Electronic Information Portal announced that it was under maintenance and could not be updated. By late afternoon, the site had been partially restored, but operations were unstable.

Regarding the work schedule of officials who are members of the Party Central Committee, we notice that Mr. Nghiem Xuan Thanh, Secretary of the Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee, member of the Party Central Committee (Central Committee), has a schedule “on a business trip to Hanoi”. Noi” on Friday, April 26, 2024.

Specifically, the work schedule on the Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee Information Portal and the Hau Giang Provincial People’s Committee Information Portal in the April 26 section states:

“Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee is on a business trip to Hanoi.”

Last March, the Central Committee of the Central Committee also had an extraordinary meeting to dismiss President Vo Van Thuong on March 20. Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee Information Portal also announced the working schedule:

“Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee attended the 13th Party Central Committee Conference. Venue at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, No. 1 Hung Vuong, Ba Dinh, Hanoi.”

At that time, after the BBC reported on the Party Central Committee’s extraordinary meeting, the information portal of the Hau Giang provincial government edited the content to “Comrade Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee on a business trip to Hanoi”.

Now, the fact that Mr. Nghiem Xuan Thanh has a business schedule in Hanoi on April 26 is also raising speculation that the Party Central Committee will have an extraordinary meeting on this day.

In March, the website of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities posted a work schedule showing Minister and Chairman of the Committee Hau A Lenh (member of the Party Central Committee) and Deputy Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Y Vinh. Tro (alternate member) has a schedule to attend the Party Central Committee conference, coinciding with Mr. Nghiem Xuan Thanh’s schedule.

However, on the afternoon of April 24, when the BBC re-visited this page, it encountered a notice about “protecting State secrets” and “stop updating the Committee Leader’s Work Schedule on the Electronic Information Portal.” . This policy will begin implementation from working week 14 (from April 1, 2024).

With the reason of “protecting State secrets”, it is difficult for people to access information about work schedules that should be public.

The form of operation of the Central Committee is conference. Conferences are organized according to this full-term program and in addition there is an annual program convened by the Politburo.

Normally, the Central Committee meets in person every 6 months.

The last time the Party Central Committee had an extraordinary meeting was on March 20 to give opinions on the dismissal of Mr. Vo Van Thuong from holding positions and work.

As a result, Mr. Thuong “is responsible as the leader according to the Party’s regulations and the State’s laws.” The Party Central Committee agreed to let Mr. Vo Van Thuong resign from holding positions in the Party and State.

After Mr. Thuong resigned, the 13th Politburo had only 14 people left, while at the beginning of the term, this number was 18.

The fact that the Central Committee may arrange an extraordinary meeting shows the possibility of changes in the Party’s personnel.

Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue is a member of the 13th Politburo, Chairman of the 15th National Assembly (term 2021-2026).

Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue’s close assistant, Mr. Pham Thai Ha, has just been prosecuted and arrested for “Abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain” related to the Thuan An case.

According to the press, Mr. Pham Thai Ha “has experienced many working positions with a long time of working closely with, advising and serving National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue at the State Audit agencies, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Assembly Committee. Central Economy, Government, Hanoi Party Committee and National Assembly.”

That means when Mr. Hue assumed the position of State Auditor General from 2006 to 2011, Mr. Pham Thai Ha was Mr. Hue’s assistant.

After that, when Mr. Hue held important positions such as Minister of Finance in the period 2011-2012, Head of the Central Economic Commission in the period 2012-2016, Deputy Prime Minister in the period 2016-2020, Mr. Pham Thai Ha still is Mr. Hue’s close assistant.

Even when Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue moved to become Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee (2020-2021), Mr. Pham Thai Ha still followed in his footsteps.

By April 2021, Mr. Hue became Chairman of the National Assembly, one of Vietnam’s “Four Pillars”. Mr. Ha continues to serve as assistant to the Chairman of the National Assembly, before being appointed to the position of Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office in 2022.

Thus, it can be said that during their many years of work, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue and Mr. Pham Thai Ha have always been inseparable.

Now, when Mr. Ha is involved in legal trouble, the question of “head responsibility” needs to be raised.

Article 7, Regulation 41-QD/TW 2021 states:

1. Dismissal of the head when allowing the agency or unit under his/her management, responsibility or direct subordinates to experience very serious corruption or negativity.

2. The leader who abuses his position and assigned powers to tolerate, cover up, and abet corruption and negativity will be considered for resignation depending on the nature and extent of the violation.

3. Resign the head when the agency or unit under his/her management, responsibility or direct subordinates has serious corruption or negativity.

The crime of “Abusing position and power to influence others for personal gain” committed by Mr. Pham Thai Ha is a crime in the group of corruption crimes and is a “especially serious” crime with a penalty frame. up to life imprisonment.

Thus, according to regulations, Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue will have to “bear the responsibility of the leader” when serious negative things happen to his subordinate, Mr. Pham Thai Ha.

In January 2023, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc also had to “bear the political responsibility of the leader when many officials, including 2 deputy prime ministers and 3 ministers, committed violations and shortcomings.” , causing very serious consequences; 2 deputy prime ministers have resigned from their positions, 2 ministers and many officials have been criminally prosecuted.”

The two deputy prime ministers mentioned above are Mr. Pham Binh Minh and Mr. Vu Duc Dam. Among them, Mr. Minh is also a member of the 13th Politburo.

In January 2023, Deputy Prime Minister and member of the 13th Politburo Mr. Pham Binh Minh was dismissed from his positions.

Notably, in September 2022, Mr. Pham Binh Minh’s former assistant – Mr. Nguyen Quang Linh – was prosecuted and arrested by the security investigation agency for accepting bribes of more than 4.2 billion VND in a major case. “rescue flight”.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Linh was appointed assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh for nearly 10 years, from December 31, 2013 until his arrest. In April 2023, Mr. Linh was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

During the press conference of the National Assembly on January 9, 2023, Thanh Nien newspaper asked the question:

“So can Mr. Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam resign? Regulation 41 on resignation and dismissal stipulates many grounds for resignation, so Mr. Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam resigned for this reason. What?”

In response, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy Head of the Delegate Affairs Committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee, said that the decisions are based on Party regulations, State laws, and procedures are followed in accordance with regulations. legal regulations. Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh added that the National Assembly approved the dismissal of Mr. Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam based on personal wishes.

The official answer is still unclear, but it can be understood that Mr. Pham Binh Minh was also dismissed according to Regulation 41 although it is unclear under which article or clause.

Earlier this year, a member of the 13th Politburo, Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, also had to “bear the political responsibility of the leader when many violations occurred at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many officials and party members violated the law.” law, criminal sanctions, Party disciplinary and administrative sanctions”.

Thus, when stringing together the above information, it can be seen that four members of the 13th Politburo including Vo Van Thuong, Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Pham Binh Minh and Tran Tuan Anh “asked to resign” from their positions and were “relieved of duty”. according to Regulation 41.

Politburo members are the most powerful figures in the Party. The fact that these members “asked for it” can show that the Party has allowed these people to “land safely”, meaning they will not be subject to any form of discipline. The Party whether reprimanding, warning, dismissing or expelling.

More importantly, these people also avoid being prosecuted for criminal liability.

At the time Mr. Thuong “asked for it”, Doctor of Political Science Nguyen Khac Giang, a guest researcher at the ISEAS Institute (Singapore), explained to the BBC that, all the language about Mr. Thuong’s violations, or before that, Mr. Phuc, are all general and vague.

“Not disclosing any wrongdoing or position is to avoid the fact that when giving that information, the person associated with that information will not only be prosecuted in terms of the Party but also criminally. It will cause The Party is in a very dilemma: being a high-ranking leader, up to the ‘Four Pillars’ level, if you are punished, it will greatly affect the Party’s reputation,” Mr. Giang commented.