Sawt Falasteen - Vietnam's To Lam 'unanimously' re-elected party chief

In 17 months as party chief, the 68-year-old has swept aside rivals and centralised authority in an aggressive reform drive officials describe as a "revolution".

The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, where the Communist Party has sought to deliver rapid growth to bolster its legitimacy.

The party central committee "absolutely unanimously elected Comrade To Lam to continue holding the position of General Secretary", the party said in a statement.

Tran Thanh Man, chairman of the National Assembly, said the party chief had received 180 out of 180 votes to remain in the top job.

Two main factions of the party are seen as vying for dominance over Vietnamese politics, the security wing aligned with Lam and a more conservative military wing.

Lam's faction dominated the new 19-member politburo, the party's highest decision-making body, with Lam's nearest rival -- defence chief Phan Van Giang -- relegated to seventh position.

None of the top four members -- who by convention correspond to the four "pillars" of Vietnam's collective system of government -- are aligned with the military faction.

It was not immediately clear whether Lam had succeeded in his goal of securing the national presidency -- seen as the second most powerful position in Vietnamese politics -- as well as the party headship.

- 'Stunning success' -

Elevated to party chief after general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's death in 2024, Lam has shocked the country with the pace of his changes.

He has eliminated whole layers of government, abolishing eight ministries or agencies and cutting nearly 150,000 jobs from the state payroll, while pushing ambitious rail and power projects.

Having cemented his position atop the party, he is expected to focus on spurring private sector, digital and technological growth as the manufacturing hub seeks to break into the club of upper middle-income countries by the end of the decade.

Earlier this week Lam laid out his plans for a "new development path" that speeds up decision-making and unleashes the private sector to achieve 10 percent annual growth over the next five years.

That will require accelerating sometimes "slow and convoluted" approval processes for projects, said Daniel Kritenbrink, a former US ambassador in Vietnam.

It will also require upgrading transportation and energy infrastructure that have been strained by the country's "stunning success", he said.

Vietnam has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of new 20 percent tariffs imposed by US leader Donald Trump, clocking eight percent growth last year, among the fastest in Asia.

But the balancing act between its main export market, the US, and China -- its largest supplier -- has grown tougher as Trump's administration has taken aim at illegal transshipment.

Lam also promised this week to continue fighting corruption, suggesting the sweeping anti-graft campaign analysts say he used to sideline rivals may not be finished.

The ruling party tolerates little dissent and regularly jails critics, more than 160 of whom are behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch.

But unlike in present-day China or the Kim dynasty's North Korea, political power in Vietnam has not been concentrated in one paramount leader.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST