Vietnam’s powerful leaderWhen Vietnam’s national assembly this week chose Communist Party secretary general To Lam as the country’s president, it did so unanimously with all 495 deputies present backing him for a five-year term. Lam now joins Xi Jinping and Thongloun Sisoulith in the neighbouring communist states of China and Laos in becoming leader of both the party and the state. The move doesn’t mark a complete departure from Vietnam’s collective leadership model that has traditionally shared power between the party leader, the president, the prime minister and the chair of the national assembly. The national assembly this week chose as prime minister Le Minh Hung, a 55-year-old former central banker. Outgoing prime minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Russia last month and signed an agreement to collaborate in building one of two nuclear power plants Vietnam plans to open within the next decade.

Source: The Irish Times April 09, 2026 22:41 UTC