Lam's appointment comes after a major anti-corruption campaign that analysts say she has weaponized for her benefit.
The Vietnamese parliament approved Public Security Minister To Lam as the country's new president after a major anti-corruption campaign forced his predecessor to resign.
Following the usual procedures of the one-party state, the National Assembly voted unanimously on a resolution approving the election of Lam, 66, after a secret ballot in which he was the only candidate for the position. The vote followed his nomination by the ruling Communist Party last week.
Thousands of people – including several senior government and business leaders – have been caught up in a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign known as the “burning furnace” in which Lam, who is deputy head of the anti-corruption steering committee, has played a central role.
Lam replaces Vo Van Thuong, who resigned in March over what the party called “violations and shortcomings,” after just one year in office. The following month, the president of the National Assembly also resigned due to “violations and deficiencies.”
Analysts have said Lam, deputy head of the anti-corruption steering committee, has used her investigations as a weapon to take down political rivals.
In his first statements after his confirmation as president, he told Parliament that he would “decidedly and persistently continue the fight against corruption.”
'Step'
The president of the state plays a mainly ceremonial role, but is one of the four main political offices of the country, the so-called “four pillars”. The others are the head of the party, the prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor and Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra, said the election should restore some calm, if only temporarily. Elder party chief Nguyen Phu Trong's third five-year term ends in 2026, or sooner if he steps down before his term expires.
“To Lam could use her position as one of the 'four pillars' as a springboard to becoming general secretary,” Thayer said, referring to the post of party chief.
“With the promotion to the position of president, it is clear that there are more ambitions for To Lam than retirement,” said Florian Feyerabend, Vietnam representative of Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank, noting that the position could be a “launching pad” to secure his position as party chief.
Feyerabend said continued infighting was “the modus operandi of the system” and would likely continue until Nguyen Phu Trong's successor was elected.
Lam's rise has not been without controversy and parliament decided that he would not continue as Public Security Minister, which is responsible for monitoring dissent and monitoring activists in the dictatorship.
Human rights advocates say the government has intensified repression against civil society groups in recent years, and Vietnam-focused human rights organization The 88 Project says there are currently 200 activists in prison.
No longer at the helm of the Ministry of Public Security, Lam “may be in a weaker position to defeat Pham Minh Chinh,” the prime minister and only other candidate for secretary-general, said Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College. in Washington.
Lam also sparked anger in Vietnam in 2021 when celebrity chef Nusret Gokce, known as “Salt Bae,” uploaded a video of Lam eating a gold-encrusted steak at his London restaurant, while Vietnam was under COVID-19 lockdown. The video went viral before the Turkish chef removed it.
A noodle vendor who later posted a video imitating “Salt Bae” by sprinkling herbs on noodle soup was sentenced to five years in prison for “anti-state propaganda.”
