Is former State President Vo Van Thuong clean or not?

State President Vo Van Thuong lost his position and became the head of Vietnam with the shortest time in office, just over a year.

Thuong has long been considered a close person to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – Vietnam’s leading powerful figure for many years.

Previously, according to analysts, former State President Thuong was considered a theoretical young politician, and had a prominent role in Vietnam’s current political arena. His promotion in the future is likely to go very far.

Thuong encountered difficulties in his path and was dismissed from all positions by the 13th Party Central Committee and the 15th National Assembly. That means the end of his political career.

According to observers, this shows that Vietnam’s politics is showing extremely unusual and worrying signs. The 13th National Congress of the Party has just passed more than 3 years, but there have been 2 changes in the personnel of the State President’s seat – one of the 4 highest seats of power, in the Vietnamese political system.

However, Thuong’s origin is still a “mystery” similar to the origin of Nong Duc Manh – former General Secretary. The question “Whose is Vo Van Thuong, or who are Vo Van Thuong’s parents?” has not yet been answered.

All we know is that Thuong was born in Hai Duong, Northern Vietnam, but his father’s hometown is in Mang Thit district, Vinh Long province. Notably, Thuong rose from the ranks of the Youth Union, not very prominently, but promoted very quickly. When he was a Youth Union officer in Saigon, Vo Van Thuong was sponsored by Vo Van Kiet. The strange thing is, Thuong was supported by both characters, who were political opponents and did not like each other. Those are former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and former State President Truong Tan Sang.

Based on Thuong’s rapid promotion process, it can be seen that he is also a “son of his father” like other “red seed” figures of the Party. Since 2004, when he was only 34 years old, Thuong has been Secretary of the District Party Committee of District 12, Saigon. Since January 2007, when Thuong was 37 years old, he was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. Then from August 2011, at the age of 41, Mr. Thuong became a member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Quang Ngai provincial Party Committee.

It is true that Thuong has long been considered a quite clean character, because there have been no scandals related to money. However, up to now, there have been allegations of corruption during Thuong’s time as Secretary of Quang Ngai, amounting to tens of billions of dong.

Accordingly, in 2012, when Mr. Vo Van Thuong was Secretary of Quang Ngai (2011-2014), Phuc Son Group of Nguyen Van Hau won the bid for a project on the south bank of Tra Khuc River, 9 km long, with Investment capital up to VND1 trillion.

The Ministry of Public Security indirectly accused Vo Van Thuong, while holding the position of Secretary of the Quang Ngai Provincial Party Committee, through his relative, Dang Trung Hoanh – Secretary of the District Party Committee of Mang Thit district, Vinh Long province, to receive VND64 billion from Phuc Son Group, said to be used to build an ancestral temple for Thuong’s family.

According to observers, Thuong has a “special” relationship, above the normal level, with Le Thanh Hai – former Politburo member, former Chairman, former Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. .

Hai is known as the “worm lord” – a corrupt boss, and is the backer of Truong My Lan – who is currently standing trial on very serious corruption charges.

Since April 2014, under the advocacy of Secretary Le Thanh Hai, Thuong has held the position of Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. At that time, Le Thanh Hai hoped that, after the 12th National Congress (in February 2016), Thuong would hold the position of Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.

At the same time, Thuong also played a significant role in “rescuing” Le Thanh Hai from prosecution for very serious violations, especially the corruption case related to the Thu Thua New Urban Area project. Thiem.

Thanks to Thuong and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, former Chairwoman of the National Assembly, they both believed that Hai should only be disciplined at the “warning” level. For this reason, it is necessary to consider Hai’s work history, dedication, and contributions to the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. In the end, Hai was only disciplined and dismissed from his position as former Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee in the 2010-2015 period.

What has just been said shows that in the past, State President Thuong had a close relationship with Le Thanh Hai’s Saigon interest group, including with President Van Thinh Phat – Truong My Lan. Through this, we can see that Thuong is not “clean” as many people mistakenly think./.

 

Tra My – Thoibao.de

Kasse animation 7.8.2023