Here’s what you need to know about Vietnam’s communist government
The Vietnamese Communist Party has ruled the country for almost half a century and often prides itself on its unity and longevity. It is one of the last remaining communist dictatorships in the world.
It has also become one of Asia’s fastest growing economies and a crucial player in the growing rivalry between the US and China, adept at balancing its interests between the two powers. In recent years, many foreign companies and investors have come to Vietnam, which has touted its political stability by presenting itself as an alternative to China as a manufacturing center.
But the announcement Wednesday that President Vo Van Thuong had resigned, the second president to resign in just over a year over corruption allegations, has undermined that message of stability, even if the post is largely ceremonial. The resignation could deter investors.
Here’s what you need to know about Vietnam’s leadership:
Who is the responsible person?
Unlike China, Vietnam, a country of 99.5 million people, has no supreme leader. Instead, the administration is controlled by ‘four pillars’ of leadership: the General Secretary of the Communist Party, the President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister.
Power rests largely with Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of the Communist Party unprecedented third five-year term as party chief.
How are the leaders chosen?
The Communist Party elects its leadership every five years at a party congress. Delegates elect a 200-person Central Committee, which then votes on membership in the Politburo, the party’s highest decision-making body. The Politburo, which now consists of 18 members, selects the “four pillars” of leadership. This whole decision-making process is very opaque.
After the previous president, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, resigned in January 2023, the Central Committee held an extraordinary meeting two months later, introducing Mr Thuong as president. Both resigned, authorities said, after violating Communist Party rules, a euphemism for corruption.
Yet the key issue in Vietnam’s elite politics remains the selection of a replacement for Mr Trong, who is 79 years old and in poor health. He has not yet named a successor and analysts say the next leadership transition in 2026 has now begun.
What is life like under such leadership?
Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia’s economic success stories. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Communist Party leaders implemented policies that transformed the largely agricultural economy into a global manufacturing center. In recent years, the country has benefited greatly from the US-China trade war and the tough coronavirus restrictions imposed by Beijing as foreign manufacturers hunted for a supply chain alternative to China.
Nike, Lululemon and Adidas make their clothes in Vietnam; Apple’s suppliers are now considering making the brand’s watches and MacBooks there as well.
But Vietnam remains one of the most repressive countries in Asia. Freedom of speech and assembly are severely restricted and critics of the government are often imprisoned. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 160 people are currently incarcerated in Vietnam for exercising their basic rights. Many of them are journalists, bloggers and environmental activists who have been jailed for expressing dissent.