The Legacy of Nguyen Phu Trong
General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party has just passed away; Attorney Le Quoc Quan wrote this piece to mention his time in power and his legacy.
The Vietnamese have a saying, "Cái quan định luận,” meaning the final judgment of a person is made only when his coffin is.
Now is the time to calmly reflect on the legacy of a person who held an imperial mandate and recently passed away.
A Special Person
Nguyen Phu Trong was a unique General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party. If he were not a "special person," he would not have been considered a "special case" by the collective, rising above the Constitution and Party Charter for a pretty long period.
He served as General Secretary for three consecutive terms, despite Article 17 of the Party Charter stating, "The General Secretary holds the position for no more than two consecutive terms." Even when he was just the General Secretary, he represented the state in many foreign activities, despite Article 86 of the Constitution stating, "The President is the head of state, representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in domestic and foreign affairs."
As Deputy Foreign Minister Hà Kim Ngọc once said in a leaked audio, "Our General Secretary is equivalent to the head of state."
He was the Chairman of the National Assembly for six years. Then, he became the third person in the Party's history to simultaneously serve as General Secretary and President, following Hồ Chí Minh and Trường Chinh.
His integrity ensured him a certain degree of credibility over a long period, and he was considered a model of the "last communist," sincerely believing in the Party's eternal existence amidst a world constantly changing and a generation of officials with entirely different perspectives forming.
Personal Background
Born in 1944 in Lại Đà village, Đông Hội commune, Đông Anh district, Hanoi, in a purely agricultural family as the youngest of four siblings, he attended Nguyễn Gia Thiều High School before becoming a literature student at Hanoi University in 1963.
Perhaps no other General Secretary of Vietnam has spent their entire life studying and becoming an unparalleled expert, professor, and Ph.d in Communist Party building. He began working and joined the Party at the Communist Review in 1967 at 23 and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in Party Building at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Soviet Union.
His political career truly blossomed when he, along with 19 others, was elected to the Central Committee of the Party in mid-1991-1996.
Not only skilled in theory as Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council for six years (2001-2006), he was also known for solving practical problems in internal Party politics, where dictatorship always accompanies strategic power moves. His Legacy: After Me, the Flood? (Après moi, le déluge)
Domestic Legacy: "Burning Furnace"
When holding the two most important positions simultaneously as General Secretary and President, he humbly quoted from "The Tale of Kieu," "Nghĩ mình phận mỏng cánh chuồn/Khuôn xanh biết có vuông tròn hay không" (Considering my thin fate like a dragonfly's wings / Who knows if the frame will be perfect or not).
It can be said that until his death, everything remained unfinished and not "perfect" as he wished. The personnel he built had to leave due to the "burning furnace" campaign he initiated.
He started a well-planned strategy to eliminate corrupt officials, strengthen leadership, and increase the Party's prestige. On behalf of the Politburo, he issued Decision No. 162-QD/TW to establish the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, with himself as the head.
Subsequently, the media began praising his simplicity and integrity while condemning the luxury and wastefulness of corrupt officials, creating collective outrage against those who only knew how to destroy public property and harass the people.
He used many literary images to describe the anti-corruption campaign. The most vivid description was during the 12th session of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption when he said, "The furnace is hot now; even wet wood must be burned."
From then on, minor officials at the department level were brought into the furnace, followed
by government members and Politburo members. Both the President and two Deputy Prime Ministers had to resign. The peak was when three former Central Committee members simultaneously stood trial in the Việt Á case, and within two years, Vietnam had to replace three Presidents. He struggled to find a successor, encountering only "wood" until his last breath.
On the one hand, punishing corrupt officials, and on the other, building himself as a bright example and a beacon of hope for many, especially the working class. The book "The People's and International Friends' Trust and Love for General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng," published by Nhân Dân Newspaper and the National Political Publishing House, Truth, includes 263 articles, poems, letters, and telegrams praising him as a "senior leader with strategic thinking, always worrying about the people and the country, living simply, not caring about power or personal gain."
His anti-corruption campaign received widespread praise but also exposed to the public that Communist Party officials were indeed a "swarm of worms" and anyone could become fuel. He opened Pandora's box, and now evil always lurks around the highest ranks of the Communist Party.
Foreign Legacy: The Bamboo Diplomacy
Regarding foreign affairs, perhaps no one has had the opportunity to meet and interact with many East and West world leaders like Nguyễn Phú Trọng.
With six years as Chairman of the National Assembly and 12 years as General Secretary, including three years as President and General Secretary, he represented both the State and the Communist Party in many foreign activities. Over the past twenty years, he has had the opportunity to meet many world leaders.
His first significant trip was to China in 2011 after being elected General Secretary, where he met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice President Xi Jinping.
In July 2015, he made a historic visit to the United States. He was the first General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to be received and held talks with President Obama at the White House.
During his tenure, Vietnam ventured along a crucial path amidst rising tensions between two great powers and a world seemingly splitting into explicit factions.
Not just East and West, over the past 12 years, Vietnamese diplomacy has been vibrant, integrating profoundly and widely with the world. He encapsulated this image as "bamboo diplomacy." Currently, Vietnam has six Comprehensive Strategic Partners and 12 Strategic Partners and has signed 16 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements.
By the end of 2023, Nguyễn Phú Trọng even invited the leaders of the two most immense world powers, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, to the modest headquarters of the Vietnamese Communist Party at No. 1 Hùng Vương, Hanoi, to discuss and shape a long-term future for Vietnam.
Just a month ago, he received Putin at the Central Party Headquarters, marking his last
meeting with a foreign leader. The bamboo diplomacy policy is now precarious and full of challenges for its successors in a polarized world.
Social Control and Suppression of Freedom
Unfortunately, with his great power, Nguyễn Phú Trọng did not establish a long-term systematic foundation for Vietnam. The 2013 Constitution, which was passed, still recognizes the leadership of the Communist Party, and the state economy remains the leading force. The press is regulated, and dissent is widely suppressed. Civil society is attacked, and freedom of speech is tightly controlled.
Vietnam's economy has begun to slow down, and many social institutions have faded. People once hoped for a rule-of-law state, a healthy civil society, and judicial reforms. All these hopes have nearly halted, especially freedom of the press.
Now, people are more concerned with signals from the "Central Inspection Committee" and the Anti-Corruption Steering Committee than with public arguments from the Procuracy or Courts based on the independence of a healthy judiciary.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Vietnam currently has more than 160 prisoners of conscience detained for merely exercising their fundamental rights, and the human rights situation in 2023 is summarized in one word: "bleak."
What Will People Remember About Him?
The anti-corruption campaign, bamboo diplomacy, and suppression of dissent are what Vietnamese people will never forget about him.
They will also remember his "sincere beliefs" and "hopeless efforts" to build a generation of true communists amidst a society entirely of red capitalists increasingly alienated from the working class.
People will also remember his image being welcomed by Obama at the White House and
standing alongside Xi Jinping amidst cannons and the national anthem, followed by a commitment to "share a common future" with China.
