Vietnam’s Communist leader dies aged 80 creating power vacuum

Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist party and the country’s most powerful politician, has died aged 80, creating a power vacuum.

Trong died early on Friday afternoon “after a period of illness”, according to his medical team, state media reported.

Trong held Vietnam’s most powerful position, general-secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist party, since 2011, one of the longest-serving leaders in decades. He also served as president from 2018 to 2021.

During his time in office, he oversaw a period of rapid economic growth as well as a balancing of ties with China and Vietnam’s former foe, the US. Trong was known for his “blazing furnace” anti-corruption drive, under which even senior political figures, including former presidents, were forced to resign.

There had been speculation about Trong’s health for months, fuelled by his absences from recent meetings.

“General secretary of the central committee of the party, Nguyen Phu Trong, passed away at 13.38 on 19 July 2024, at the 108 Central Military hospital due to old age and serious illness,” the Nhan Dan newspaper said.

On Thursday, it was announced he would step back from his role as head of the Communist party, due to unspecified health concerns, with president To Lam instead taking over his duties. Trong was awarded the Gold Star medal, the country’s highest honour for public officials, on the same day.

Trong will be remembered for his anti-corruption campaigns, which were unprecedented in the history of the party. Since 2016, more than 139,000 party members have been punished for corruption – a crackdown so vast it was blamed for negative impacts on the economy, with officials reluctant to sign off approvals, fearful of being accused of wrongdoing.

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In pursuing such crackdowns, he “consolidated an unrivalled level of power within the political system,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the Vietnam studies programme of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Any plans that he had for an orderly succession transition had gone unrealised, he added, and his death risks creating a power vacuum.

Giang added: “I think this will lead [to] a very difficult time for Vietnam, for the political allies to negotiate among themselves who will assume the position of Nguyen Phu Trong. That might lead to a succession crisis where different factions would not agree.”

Given Trong’s power and popularity, analysts say any successor is unlikely to deviate from his policies in relation to the economy, foreign policy, or the lack of tolerance for government critics.

There are now more than 160 people held in prison for peacefully exercising their civil and political rights, according to Human Rights Watch.

The courts convicted at least 28 rights campaigners and sentenced them to long prison terms during the first 10 months of 2023, the group said.

In his foreign policy, Trong pursued a so-called “bamboo diplomacy” – which “sways with the winds” and avoids picking sides in international disputes – including in relation to the rivalry between the US and China.

In 2015, he became the first general secretary of the Communist party to pay an official visit to the US, where he met with the former president Barack Obama.

Last year Trong hosted the US president, Joe Biden , and upgraded ties with Washington, as well as with Australia and Japan. China’s president, Xi Jinping, also made a state visit three months later.

China’s Communist party central committee said the Chinese people had lost a “good comrade, brother and friend”, Chinese state media reported.