Nong Duc Manh, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), and Hun Sen, his protege. Manh is plagued by the corruption involving his own son-in-law. Replicating the CPV structure, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is also controlling the majority of the Cambodian economy directly and indirectly. Important sectors of the economy in Cambodia are controlled by family members of high ranking CPP officials. Wealth in Cambodia is concentrated mainly in the hands of CPP members and their cronies.Vietnam may fire communist boss
Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnam's ruling Communist Party will meet Friday to decide on a new slate of leadership, including whether to replace its highest-ranking official, whose son-in-law has been revealed to work for the state company at the centre of a corruption scandal, officials said Thursday.
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh's chances of being nominated for a second term will almost certainly be hurt by the fact that his son-in-law, Dang Hoang Hai, happens to be a division manager at the now- notorious Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18), analysts said.
The highly publicised PMU18 scandal - in which the transport minister resigned, his deputy minister was arrested and the company's general director is jailed pending investigation of embezzlement of up to $7 million - has rocked the Communist Party ahead of next week's crucial national congress.
Rumours have circulated for weeks that Manh has a family tie to the company, but on Thursday, two PMU18 officials and the son-in-law himself confirmed that Hai is still working as director of PMU18's Project Implementation Division 1, one of 250 employees at the company.
"Yes, I am still working there. We are still working normally," Hai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone on Thursday, after identifying himself as the son-in-law of the general secretary.
Hai - who police said Thursday is not under any investigation for wrongdoing - said that he knew nothing about the any corrupt practices at the company. "It's hard for me to assess this scandal. I am new there," he said.
Still, the very association of Manh's family with the company that has scandalized the nation could hurt his chances to retain leadership as the Communist Party seeks to prove to its people it is fighting corruption.
"Those who don't like Mr. Manh will use this scandal and make it a big issue," said Bui Kien Thanh, a Vietnamese-American financial analyst who also serves as a policy adviser to the government. "That will be Manh's disadvantage."
Carlyle Thayer, a longtime analyst of Vietnamese politics who teaches at Australia's National Defence Academy, agreed that having a family member - even an in-law who has not been implicated in the scandal - could cause Manh to suffer by association.
"It will certainly raise questions," Thayer said. "It may not cause the secretary general to step down, but it calls Nong Duc Manh's seamless transition to another term into question."
However, because there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, Manh may still stay on as the top party leader, Thayer said. "He could ride this out."
Phan Dien, a member of the Communist Party's elite 14-member Politburo, told reporters Thursday that the party's powerful 150- member Central Committee would meet in a last-minute plenum before next week's national congress to discuss nominations for the Politburo and for general secretary.
Dien called corruption "a danger to the survival of our political system" and vowed that the party would seek to promote only officials with a record against fighting graft.
"Those who are nominated should be incorruptible persons and must not allow any family member to take advantage of their position to be corrupt," Dien said.
Next week's 10th Party Congress, which begins April 18, is the forum in which more than 1,700 delegates from around the country map out a new five-year plan for Vietnam and elect a new Central Committee and Politburo.
The outgoing Central Committee traditionally makes nominations and recommendations for the new members for top leadership, which are usually followed because the party is careful to hammer out consensus in pre-congress plenums such as the one starting Friday.
Next week's congress could name an entirely new slate for the top three positions in the country of party general secretary, prime minister and president. Current Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President Tran Duc Luong are widely expected to announce their retirements.
Manh, 66, had been considered likely to stay on for some continuity and because he has served only one term, having first been elected at the Ninth Congress five years ago. The party general secretary has no formal government role, but is widely seen as the most powerful position in the one-party state.
However, the unfolding PMU18 scandal may have weakened Manh's hand in the party's secretive political infighting. Thanh, who said he has talked to several party officials about the scandal, said he has heard the party wants to send a clear anti-corruption message in its next leadership slate.
"There will be major changes of position. Several officials will be forced to retire," Thanh predicted.
The PMU18 scandal broke in January with the arrested of Bui Tien Dung for investigation on gambling and bribery charges. Local media have reported that officials the state company, which is an arm of the Ministry of Transport, embezzled some 7 million dollars in funds for roads and bridges and funneled the cash into a football betting ring also run by state officials.
Last week, Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned, saying he took responsibility for failing to prevent the corruption under his watch. Binh has not been charged with any crime, but his deputy minister, Nguyen Viet Tien, was arrested the same day, accused of corruption.
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh's chances of being nominated for a second term will almost certainly be hurt by the fact that his son-in-law, Dang Hoang Hai, happens to be a division manager at the now- notorious Project Management Unit 18 (PMU18), analysts said.
The highly publicised PMU18 scandal - in which the transport minister resigned, his deputy minister was arrested and the company's general director is jailed pending investigation of embezzlement of up to $7 million - has rocked the Communist Party ahead of next week's crucial national congress.
Rumours have circulated for weeks that Manh has a family tie to the company, but on Thursday, two PMU18 officials and the son-in-law himself confirmed that Hai is still working as director of PMU18's Project Implementation Division 1, one of 250 employees at the company.
"Yes, I am still working there. We are still working normally," Hai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone on Thursday, after identifying himself as the son-in-law of the general secretary.
Hai - who police said Thursday is not under any investigation for wrongdoing - said that he knew nothing about the any corrupt practices at the company. "It's hard for me to assess this scandal. I am new there," he said.
Still, the very association of Manh's family with the company that has scandalized the nation could hurt his chances to retain leadership as the Communist Party seeks to prove to its people it is fighting corruption.
"Those who don't like Mr. Manh will use this scandal and make it a big issue," said Bui Kien Thanh, a Vietnamese-American financial analyst who also serves as a policy adviser to the government. "That will be Manh's disadvantage."
Carlyle Thayer, a longtime analyst of Vietnamese politics who teaches at Australia's National Defence Academy, agreed that having a family member - even an in-law who has not been implicated in the scandal - could cause Manh to suffer by association.
"It will certainly raise questions," Thayer said. "It may not cause the secretary general to step down, but it calls Nong Duc Manh's seamless transition to another term into question."
However, because there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, Manh may still stay on as the top party leader, Thayer said. "He could ride this out."
Phan Dien, a member of the Communist Party's elite 14-member Politburo, told reporters Thursday that the party's powerful 150- member Central Committee would meet in a last-minute plenum before next week's national congress to discuss nominations for the Politburo and for general secretary.
Dien called corruption "a danger to the survival of our political system" and vowed that the party would seek to promote only officials with a record against fighting graft.
"Those who are nominated should be incorruptible persons and must not allow any family member to take advantage of their position to be corrupt," Dien said.
Next week's 10th Party Congress, which begins April 18, is the forum in which more than 1,700 delegates from around the country map out a new five-year plan for Vietnam and elect a new Central Committee and Politburo.
The outgoing Central Committee traditionally makes nominations and recommendations for the new members for top leadership, which are usually followed because the party is careful to hammer out consensus in pre-congress plenums such as the one starting Friday.
Next week's congress could name an entirely new slate for the top three positions in the country of party general secretary, prime minister and president. Current Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President Tran Duc Luong are widely expected to announce their retirements.
Manh, 66, had been considered likely to stay on for some continuity and because he has served only one term, having first been elected at the Ninth Congress five years ago. The party general secretary has no formal government role, but is widely seen as the most powerful position in the one-party state.
However, the unfolding PMU18 scandal may have weakened Manh's hand in the party's secretive political infighting. Thanh, who said he has talked to several party officials about the scandal, said he has heard the party wants to send a clear anti-corruption message in its next leadership slate.
"There will be major changes of position. Several officials will be forced to retire," Thanh predicted.
The PMU18 scandal broke in January with the arrested of Bui Tien Dung for investigation on gambling and bribery charges. Local media have reported that officials the state company, which is an arm of the Ministry of Transport, embezzled some 7 million dollars in funds for roads and bridges and funneled the cash into a football betting ring also run by state officials.
Last week, Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned, saying he took responsibility for failing to prevent the corruption under his watch. Binh has not been charged with any crime, but his deputy minister, Nguyen Viet Tien, was arrested the same day, accused of corruption.
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