Today, to have a powerful team, there must be a division of titles and preferential privileges for each other to grant lucrative positions. Although the Communists say they are “proletarians,” they are really very rich in an unclear way. Although the salary of the Four Pillars is only $1,000 per month, they send their children to study in Europe and their investment in their kids’ education is just very small expenses in their accounts.
Regarding these who have been Prime Ministers, no one has ruined the Vietnamese economy as severely as Nguyen Tan Dung. The state corporations and groups he established were a failed policy. In contrast to the destruction of the economy, Dung’s power tentacles have grown everywhere, both underground and above ground.
Without the support from Beijing, Nguyen Phu Trong, who was the party chief in the 2011-2024 period, would have found it difficult to defeat Dung. During the first term from 2011 to 2026, General Secretary Trong tried to overthrow Dung several times but failed. Before the 6th Central Committee’s Plenum, Trong decided to overthrow Dung right at the Politburo meeting but did not receive consensus. After that, the issue was brought to the Central Committee to get the opinions of its 200 members but he also failed. The reason is said to be that Dung had extremely strong financial power, his relationship in the party’s Central Committee and the Politburo is considered “strong because of financial and power relationship.” Therefore, they knew he was wrong, he ran the government poorly but they still supported him, making Nguyen Phu Trong powerless.
By the end of his first term, Trong finally overthrew Dung and then came the term of purge. Since the 12th party’s National Congress in 2016, Trong eliminated a series of Dung’s people, including Dinh La Thang, Hoang Trung Hai, Nguyen Van Binh, Tran Bac Ha, etc.
Thinking that by eliminating the situation, Dung’s roots and connections will no longer exist. However, in reality, there are so many anonymous juniors that Trong cannot find and destroy them completely.
Surely when Trong died, he could not have imagined that the person he had used for many years, like To Lam, was Dung’s junior. Because of such good political investment, right after Trong’s death, Dung suddenly rose strongly.
General Secretary Lam is building a power ecosystem. Officials from Hung Yen also has a great advantage. Lam has both Trong and Dung to draw lessons for success. With Lam, he copied Trong’s successful formula of sitting in the Four Pillars and controling the Ministry of Public Security. Lam even went further by using juniors to police the Secretariat and even letting a police General hold the position of Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.
Learning from Dung, Lam has a Ministry of Public Security with a budget of over $5 billion per year to accumulate finances. Nowadays, if you do not give juniors the opportunity to make money, they will not follow. With a lot of money, there will be many loyal followers. Dung’s lesson is still very hot.
Under this regime, there will certainly be no one who is not corrupt, but only those who corrupt more sophisticatedly. Only those who corrupt lavishly will have enough money to give out bonuses, only those who corrupt sophisticatedly will be able to confidently speak morally before the people without fear of being exposed. There is no such thing as “not corrupt” because if Lam is not corrupted, where will he get the financial resources and privilliges to support the Hung Yen apparatus to grow, where will he get the money to attract officials outside of Hung Yen to come under his command?
Not long after becoming General Secretary, To Lam has targeted Hanoi city, the administrative unit with the second largest economic potential in the country. Ho Chi Minh City, the richest unit has been taken over by his former boss Dung.
If Nguyen Duy Ngoc holds Hanoi, the expansion of Hung Yen’s fraction will be even easier. In addition, To Lam still hopes to hold the Defense Ministry to get his hands on the $7 billion budget, then the power of the Hung Yen faction will increase many times.
It seems that To Lam is learning lessons from late General Secretary Trong and former PM Dung to build his own empire.
Hoang Phuc -Thoibao.de
