Vietnam re-elects party leader 

HANOI: Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong (pic) was re-elected Sunday – a victory that makes him the most powerful leader in decades – but his win was overshadowed by a serious coronavirus outbreak in the country. 

Trong, a 76-year-old pro-China conservative who is rumoured to be in poor health, was given the nod after a week of closed-door talks at the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress. It will be his third term in office – a feat unprecedented in Vietnam’s modern era.

“On Sunday morning, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong was elected the General Secretary of the 13th Communist Party Central Committee,” the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Another stint in the top job for Trong is seen as a boost for his high-profile anti-corruption campaign, officially dubbed a “blazing furnace”, that has swept through the party, police and armed forces.

“We can expect Trong to continue to push” his campaign, which has claimed high-level party officials, including three Politburo members, said Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales and an expert on Vietnam. 

With graft widespread across all state sectors, Trong’s anti-corruption drive has largely proved popular with the Vietnamese public and many party members.