HANOI -- Reformist Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was not among 200 Communist officials elected to the party’s new Central Committee Tuesday, ending his bid to move into one of the most influential roles in the country.
Mr Dung's name did not appear on a list of newly-elected Central Committee members after delegates to the congress voted Tuesday, according to an official list distributed at the meeting.
The congress had earlier approved his request to withdraw his nomination for the committee that will oversee the party's affairs until 2020, three party officials said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. Mr Dung is reaching the end of his maximum two terms as premier, and without a key post, his influence over Vietnam's economic and security policies is set to diminish.
Under party rules, Mr Dung's withdrawal of his nomination -- a technical formality -- had to then be rejected by congress delegates for him to stay in contention for party general secretary.
Instead, party leaders have lined up behind current General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who easily won a seat on a key committee Tuesday, the first step toward retaining his position as head of the collective leadership of the country.
Police delegates cast their ballots during the election of the new VCP Central Committee members of Vietnam on the sixth day of the VCP's National Congress in Hanoi on Jan 26. (AFP photo)
Mr Trong secured more than 80% of the votes from delegates at a party congress to win election to the Central Committee, one of the two pillars of the ruling establishment, several delegates said.
He is now expected to be elected to the new Politburo, considered a formality in the orchestrated transition of power that happens once every five years. The Communist Party is entitled by the constitution to govern and Vietnam's 93 million people have no direct role in the election of the party leaders.
"If Mr Dung is not a Central Committee member, he is out," said Nguyen Manh Hung, professor emeritus at George Mason University in the US state of Virginia. "He is retired. He will not be back. He did not have enough votes."
Mr Dung has opened the economy to greater market forces and expanded ties with the US, Vietnam's former wartime foe, but also faced months of political infighting. At stake for the new leadership is how much -- or how fast -- Vietnam moves away from Communist neighbour China, with whom it has territorial disputes, and toward the US. Under Mr Dung, Vietnam has backed a large US-led Pacific trade pact that does not include China.
A police special force soldier stands guard outside the My Dinh National Convention Center, the main venue of the 12th national congress of Vietnam's Communist Party in Hanoi on Jan 25. (AFP photo)
Mr Dung will probably opt to retire rather then risk weakening the party, said Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He is due to step down as premier after the National Assembly votes on his presumed successor, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in May or June. Mr Phuc was elected to join the new Central Committee.
Destabilising party
"I think one of the biggest concerns for him was if he kept fighting on it would have destabilised the party system, and once the party system was unsettled he and his family would suffer," Mr Hiep said.
Mr Trong's influence over the Politburo and party procedures made him a formidable rival, Mr Hiep said. Still, his success caught some observers by surprise, given Mr Dung retains his own supporters.
"The party congress has spoken," said George Mason University's Mr Hung. "The next question is: will he be given an opportunity to represent Vietnam at the US-Asean Sunnylands summit and redeem himself with diplomatic success?"
US President Barack Obama will host Asean leaders next month in California, the first such gathering in more than 20 years, when the group was smaller. The US administration is seeking to preserve America's influence in the region against China's growing military clout, which is backed by its increased economic heft.