Vietnam's Communist Party meets to pick nation's leaders

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party today opened an eight-day congress to name the country's new set of leaders, who will determine the pace of critical economic reforms, and relations with key trading allies, China and the US.
Held every five years, the Communist Party of Vietnam's 12th Congress has brought together 1,510 delegates representing Vietnam's 63 provinces, ministries, and other party organisations.
It ends January 28 when the names of the general secretary, the prime minister, the president, the chairman of the National Assembly and other top functionaries will be announced.
The general secretary is the de facto No 1 leader of the country, although Vietnam professes a collective leadership through a Politburo that handles day to day affairs, and a larger Central Committee that meets twice a year to decide policy.

Delegates stood up and clapped when the 16 Politburo memberswalked into the conference hall at the National Convention Centre near the city centre.
The stage was set against the backdrop of a bust of the country's revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh, portraits of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, and the national flag and the hammer-and-sickle red flag for the party.

Delegates also sang the national anthem and the L'Internationale, the official song of communism.
Vietnam is one of the last remaining communist nations in the world, with a party membership of 4.5 million, but like its ideological ally China, the government believes in a quasi-free market economy alongside a strictly controlled society that places several restrictions on its 93 million people.

The congress is not expected to hold any major surprises.
Despite the veil of secrecy that the party pulls around its inner workings, it appeared yesterday that an internal power struggle had ended before the congress, and the tussle was won by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 71, (pronounced New-yen Foo Chong) who is expected to keep his job, albeit for half the five-year term in an apparent compromise with his rival, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (pronounced New-yen Taan Dzoong).
Also, a Dung protege is likely to be given the post of the National Assembly chairman, while the prime minister and the president's posts will go to a neutral candidate and a Trong supporter.