To Lam’s assumption of the state presidency alongside his position as Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) general secretary is neither surprising nor unprecedented.
Nguyen Phu Trong held both roles from 2018 to 2021 before relinquishing the presidency. To Lam himself briefly combined them after Trong’s death in mid-2024, before handing the presidency to Luong Cuong.
The difference this time is intent. Previous consolidations were interim or circumstantial arrangements; this one is deliberate, locked in for a full five-year term.
What it reveals about the evolving architecture of Vietnamese politics — and what it implies for the country’s trajectory — deserves closer attention.
It is tempting to frame this consolidation of power as a dismantling of Vietnam’s collective leadership. This may overstate the case.
The CPV formalized a “five pillars” structure in 2024 through Regulation No. 368, elevating the standing member of the secretariat — now Tran Cam Tu — alongside the traditional four: general secretary, state president, prime minister and National Assembly chair.
With To Lam holding two of those five roles, the system has adapted, settling into five pillars held by four people. Yet this adaptation is telling.
Two of the four holders occupy party-internal roles: To Lam as general secretary and Tran Cam Tu as a standing member of the secretariat. Previously, the structure balanced party and state institutions more evenly.
The center of gravity has shifted decisively toward the CPV apparatus, reinforcing a broader trend in which state institutions — the National Assembly in particular — have seen their relative influence diminish.
The consolidation also needs to be understood in precise terms. The state presidency is largely ceremonial, carrying little independent policymaking authority.
The Politburo decides by vote, and To Lam already commands that body as general secretary. Luong Cuong’s brief tenure as president illustrated as much: he held the position without meaningfully shaping Vietnam’s external commitments or domestic direction.
The practical rationale, then, is significant yet narrower than it might appear. The presidency is the constitutionally designated role for receiving foreign credentials, signing treaties and conducting state visits.
Holding both positions allows To Lam to streamline diplomatic mechanics at a moment when Vietnam’s key foreign relationships demand careful management.
The US relationship alone — complicated by trade tensions, including issues of transshipment of de facto made-in-China goods, and Vietnam’s persistent balancing act between Washington and Beijing — benefits from having a single interlocutor who sets both strategic direction and diplomatic protocol.
For foreign counterparts, fewer principals means faster engagement. This efficiency argument extends to To Lam’s economic ambitions. Vietnam’s target of 10% GDP growth requires locking in investment and trade commitments at speed, particularly amid global uncertainty.
A consolidated leadership projects decisiveness to investors and negotiating partners. The party’s dominance over economic policy was already settled; what the presidency adds is smoother execution on the international stage.
The risks are real, though often mischaracterized. The CPV’s internal discipline mechanisms remain intact, and the Politburo still functions as a collective decision-making body.
The deeper concern is institutional narrowing. Each consolidation weakens the informal norms that sustained distributed leadership, making it easier for successors to follow the same path.
And when accountability concentrates alongside authority, setbacks in the growth agenda or a diplomatic misstep fall squarely on one set of shoulders.
Vietnam is aligning its leadership model more closely with China’s, in which Xi Jinping holds both party and state roles. For foreign governments and investors, this simplifies engagement. A single authoritative counterpart reduces ambiguity.
It also means that Vietnam’s political stability is increasingly tied to one figure’s capacity and judgment, in a system designed to distribute precisely those burdens.
For To Lam, the consolidation is a bet that the efficiency gains from centralized authority will outweigh the resilience and inertia that collective leadership provided.
Vietnam’s political architecture has not collapsed. But it is bending toward the party, toward a single leader and toward a model where the margin for error is thinner than it has been in decades.
Lam Duc Vu is a Vietnam-based risk analyst focused on regional trade and geopolitics