Vietnam and Laos have elected their new Communist Party leaders. Vietnam's current party boss kept his post for a second term.
New Communist Party chiefs were elected in Vietnam and Laos. Tuoi Tre News reported that the Communist Party of Vietnam re-elected its present leader Nguyen Phu Trong, 71 years old, for another term.
The re-election was made at the 12th Party Central Committee's first meeting in Hanoi. It was officially announced in the Vietnam News Agency website. Trong was voted as the Party's general-secretary.
There were 200 committee members named, 180 official and 20 alternate, on the grand event which aims to form the next Vietnamese government. Members of the Politburo, the ultimate governing party, were also chosen during the congress held on January 20-28. The Politburo handles the government and the party's daily affairs.
Officials, who wished to retain anonymity, said that Nguyen Xuan Phuc was also chosen as member of the Politburo. He is assumed to be the next prime minister to replace Nguyen Tan Dung.
Dung was known for pushing economic reforms during his rule. Yahoo reported that there is a possibility that Trong will continue Dung's reforms. A Vietnamese scholar named Le Hong Hiep said that any person elected to the position would be pushed to enact reforms despite conservative ideologies.
Although Trong has a reputation for being pro-China, he is expected to stand up against the Chinese government to protect Vietnam's territories. If not, he risks being backlashed by the Vietnamese citizens.
According to Hiep, the re-election does not mean political reforms will be carried out soon since the Communist Party aims to monopolize the ruling power. There is not much change expected in Vietnam with the renewed leadership.
Meanwhile, Reuters said that Laos also elected its new Communist Party leader. Bounnhang Vorachit was elected to the post by the central committee which does not include the former party boss and the prime minister. The names of the new members of the politburo were not released.
Laos upholds a similar communist political structure as Vietnam. The two countries are both holding their five-yearly Communist Party congress this week.
