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Internet Edition
Asia Section
Top Headline

Vietnam: General's political star shines
Lieutenant-General Le Kha Phieu
GREG TORODE
        The country's most mysterious political figure moved into the
limelight yesterday to confirm the prospect of upcoming leadership
changes but gave little away on his own ambitions. Lieutenant-General Le
Kha Phieu, the military's ideological supremo, said it would be "normal"
for younger leaders to emerge at top levels following National Assembly
elections in July.

 When asked if those positions could include the president and prime
minister, General Phieu, 64, said: "Certainly, it will happen in October
or September."

 And on rumours that he is being groomed to replace Communist Party
General Secretary Do Muoi, now 80, General Phieu said: "We have not yet
taken that into account." Under Vietnam's firm one-party system, the
395-member Assembly appoints a president, prime minister and new Cabinet
- ultimately under the watch of the Communist Party's Politburo.

 General Phieu is considered one of Vietnam's fast rising political
stars and one who typifies a breed of hard-headed younger leaders.

 Despite a formidable reputation within Hanoi's corridors of power, he
has had little official exposure to foreigners and is largely unknown
outside the country.

 General Phieu's star rose during last year's Communist Party Congress
when he moved up to number five on the Politburo - and became a
permanent member of its new five-man elite Standing Board.

 Known as an influential disciplinarian, General Phieu wears a suit
rather than a uniform. He is the director of the Army's General
Political Department and chairman of the party's Internal Political
Protection Commission - one of the most secretive branches of the
region's most secretive regimes.

 It is a role which gives him a powerful staff and makes him ultimately
responsible for the military defence of Hanoi from bases outside the
city - and a key link between the Army and party.

 General Phieu has worked tirelessly against the undermining of party
rule by new outside forces.

 Yesterday, he appeared keen to modify President Le Duc Anh's warnings
against "individualism" among its cadres. "We do not oppose any
individual initiatives or contributions for the country," he said. "We
welcome them . . . we just oppose anything for their own benefit."


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