General To Lam: central figure after Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue lost his position

Vietnamese politics is witnessing a period of turmoil as National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue was dismissed by the Communist Party Central Committee, just over a month after former President Vo Van Thuong was dismissed.

In this context, some analysts believe that the infighting before the 14th Party Congress (scheduled to take place in January 2016) will increasingly heat up, including Minister of Public Security To Lam. has become more powerful.

“The loss of Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue’s position has made the possibility of Minister of Public Security To Lam becoming General Secretary even higher. He quickly used the power of the Ministry of Public Security to target his political opponents,” Professor Zachary Abuza from the National War College (USA) commented to BBC News Vietnamese on April 26.

Holding the position of Minister of Public Security since 2016, Mr. To Lam, 66 years old, is the main implementer of the extensive anti-corruption campaign of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 80 years old.

Last year alone, at least 459 party members were disciplined for corruption.

Last month, Mr. Vo Van Thuong became the second president to resign in less than a year after his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc accepted “political responsibility” for “violations and shortcomings” related to the two corruption cases.

Not long after Mr. Thuong resignedMr. Lam called on agencies to “strengthen” investigations of major corruption cases and continue to reduce “social order” crimes by 5%.

“All eyes are on Mr. Lam. What he has that his opponents do not have is the Ministry of Public Security’s broad investigative powers.”

“He can dig into anyone’s business dealings, and all senior leaders have business dealings. He can look into their personal lives,” Professor Abuza explained.

A recent analysis by Bloomberg said that Mr. To Lam is considered a good candidate to succeed the position of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is having health problems.

The name of General To Lam was also mentioned once again qualifications for the position of President after Mr. Vo Van Thuong resigned last month for unspecified violations, although it is unclear whether Mr. Lam wants to take on this largely ceremonial position.

Responding to the BBC, Mr. Carl Thayer, honorary professor at the University of New South Wales (Australia), commented that if Mr. To Lam is elected President, “a second gate will have to open for him to continue.” continue to serve another 5-year term.

“In the vote in the National Assembly, the number of votes of confidence for Mr. To Lam was high compared to those who received the most votes among the nearly 500 members of the National Assembly, which was 100 votes less. And if we consider those who received the lowest votes of confidence, Mr. To Lam ranked 43rd,” he cited.

According to this expert, the vote results show that there are people who are really concerned about Mr. To Lam, so he is a divisive candidate.

“The Communist Party of Vietnam often wants stability and consensus, which is detrimental to him,” Professor Thayer said.

According to a longtime observer of Vietnamese politics, there is a high possibility that Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat Truong Thi Mai will sit in the president’s chair instead of Mr. Thuong, serving until May 2026 and then retiring.

Professor Abuza said that Mr. To Lam is “not cleaner than other leaders.”

Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security was also involved in a scandal when a video of him eating gold-plated beef was personally served by the famous chef “Salt Saint” Salt Bae at a restaurant in London (UK) in 2021.

According to the announcement of the Vietnamese Government, the salary of the Minister of Public Security as of 2020 is 16.64 million VND/month, while each part of this beef costs more than 850 pounds (nearly 27 million VND), not including 15%. Service charge and side dishes. Neither Mr. To Lam nor the Vietnamese Government have ever commented on this video.

“His best defense is attack and it is clear that he participated in Mr. Trong’s burning campaign. He has taken down leader after leader, businessman after businessman, and he is really in an unassailable position,” Professor Abuza told the BBC.

However, according to Professor Abuza, current General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is still a person with significant power and influence. If the Central Inspection Committee begins an investigation of Mr. To Lam, he himself cannot prevent it. However, this expert believes that an investigation of Mr. Lam will not happen at this time.

In another development, in 2017, Mr. To Lam had a trip to Slovakia. The country’s Ministry of Home Affairs later became concerned that the visit could be “abused” for purposes beyond the scope of bilateral cooperation and friendship.

The German government confirmed that after 11 months of coming to Germany to seek asylum, Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh was kidnapped in Berlin on July 23, 2017 and brought back to Vietnam.

According to German court documents, Mr. Thanh was then taken to Slovakia, and accompanying him on the waiting plane was Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security, a rising star in the ruling Communist Party: To Lam.

Mr. Lam has not publicly admitted his involvement in the incident. Vietnamese authorities have always asserted that Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh proactively “surrendered” to Vietnam.

After being sent back to Vietnam, Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh had to go to court many times and received two life sentences.

The kidnapping sparked diplomatic tensions, with Germany temporarily suspending its strategic partnership with the Southeast Asian nation, calling the kidnapping a “flagrant and unprecedented violation” of the law. German and international.

Slovakia is also said to have threatened to freeze relations with Vietnam for a period of time because of this incident.

Mr. To Lam was born on July 10, 1957 in Nghia Tru Commune, Van Giang District, Hung Yen Province.

Mr. Lam’s career in the Vietnamese police has now spanned five decades.

Initially, he was a student at the People’s Security University in 1974 and then became an officer of the Political Protection Department I, Ministry of Public Security in 1979.

Mr. Lam was officially admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1982, promoted through the ranks to become a member of the Politburo in 2016, and continued another term as a Politburo member in 2016. 2021.

In April 2016, he held the position of Minister of Public Security of Vietnam until now.

Mr. Lam was promoted to general in 2019 when General Secretary Trong concurrently held the position of president after the death of President Tran Dai Quang in 2018.

In 2017, Mr. Lam published a 471-page book titled: The masses – The decisive factor in winning the struggle to protect security and orderwhich emphasizes the need to strengthen international economic cooperation and apply the lessons of China’s national security model as a means of protecting socialism in Vietnam.

In 2021, Mr. To Lam becomes Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption.

In the same year, video footage was taken Mr. Lam ate sumptuous gold-plated beef personally served by the famous chef “Salt Saint” Salt Bae has caused public opinion in the country to boil.

During Mr. Lam’s tenure as Minister of Public Security, Vietnam’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index was raised from 113th in 2016 to 83rd in 2023.

His ministry also drafted a controversial cybersecurity decree, requiring foreign companies to store data and open offices in Vietnam to hold sovereignty over Vietnamese people’s data and have financial rights. against these companies.

Under Mr. Lam’s tenure as head of the police, many democracy and environmental activists were arrested. The activities of non-governmental organizations are considered to be tightened.