A third of the ruling Communist Party's 15-man Politburo in Vietnam stepped down at a five-yearly congress on Tuesday, part of a reshuffle that will bring new, younger faces into the ageing leadership. At the first meeting of a newly elected Central Committee, Nguyen Phu Trong, an ideologue who heads parliament, was elected to the party's top post, general secretary, a source with knowledge of the vote said on condition of anonymity.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was also re-elected to the Politburo, the source said, in a sign he is likely to have a second term as Vietnam grapples with volatile inflation, a depreciating currency and declining foreign exchange reserves. The changes to the elite Politburo, to be officially announced on Wednesday, are unlikely to bring imminent or bold policy shifts, although policymakers say they see the need for more economic stability after years of rapid growth.
Prime Minister Dung is a known quantity among investors, but Jacob Ramsay, who follows Vietnam for consultancy Control Risks, said there was an urgent need to adjust economic policies. Party heavyweight Truong Tan Sang and deputy prime minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, also in the Politburo, are likely to receive top jobs, with Sang possibly becoming state president and Hung becoming speaker of parliament. Both are said to be rivals of Dung's and such an arrangement would amount to "checks and balances, Vietnamese-style", said a Western diplomat who declined to be identified so he could speak candidly about Vietnam's sensitive Politburo structure.