The Secretive Meeting Where Vietnam Changes Leaders

Vietnam, one of the world’s five remaining Communist states, is about to get new leadership. The biggest moves will emerge from a secretive, twice-a-decade meeting -- the National Party Congress -- which started Jan. 25 in Hanoi and ends Feb. 2. From general secretary on down, there’ll be a shakeup of the characters who will steer the Southeast Asian nation of 97.6 million people through a period of tense relations involving China and the U.S. While no major policy reset is anticipated, the congress will approve a five-year blueprint for one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

It’s an opaque process. Vietnam has a collective “four pillar” leadership structure made up of general secretary, prime minister, president and chair of the National Assembly, the nation’s parliament. It governs in consultation with a 17- to 19-member politburo. Nguyen Phu Trong, the current general secretary, also became president in 2018 following the death of President Tran Dai Quang, meaning the top leadership was down to three. Observers anticipate the government will revert to four pillars in 2021.