Vietnam’s Communist Party names To Lam as top leader

Vietnam’s President To Lam waits for the arrival of Japan’s former prime minister Yoshihide Suga at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on July 25, 2024. Suga is in Vietnam to attend the national funeral of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong. (Photo by LUONG THAI LINH / POOL / Agence France-Presse)

HANOI — Vietnam’s Communist Party named President To Lam as the country’s top leader Saturday, after the death of his predecessor two weeks ago.

“This morning, August 3, 2024, the Party Central Committee… elected To Lam the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam,” the party said at a press conference.

The party’s general secretary is the most powerful figure in Vietnam’s leadership structure, with the president occupying a largely ceremonial role that includes meeting foreign counterparts.

READ: Vietnam Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong dies at 80

It was unclear if Lam would continue to serve as president simultaneously or relinquish that role.

In his first remarks as general secretary, Lam said his promotion resulted from “an urgent need to ensure the leadership of the party.”

“This is a huge honor with glorious responsibility before the party and the people,” he added.

It was unclear if Lam will carry out his role as president simultaneously or whether he will step down.

Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visits the Central Office of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi on December 12, 2023. China’s President Xi Jinping called on December 12 for a “new stage” in relations with Vietnam as he began his first visit in six years, seeking to counter the United States’ growing influence with the communist nation. (Photo by MINH HOANG / POOL / Agence France-Presse)

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The nomination comes two weeks after the death of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s most powerful leader in decades.

He died in the capital Hanoi “due to old age and serious illness” and Lam was informally handed the reins of power.

Lam’s formal succession to the top job follows a long career within the secretive public security ministry, which deals with the monitoring of dissent and surveillance of activists in Vietnam, a one-party state.