A few thousands of delegates, along hundred of government and local officials gathered in Hyeoul convention centre, where the People's Democratic Party held an extraordinary congress. While the circumstances of the congress were rather ominuous, following the death of late President Kwon Sang-jun in an accident on July and the Namgung terror attack which killed several leading People's Democratic Party high officials, the congress was expected to choose a new leadership.
The congress started with a solemn and serious tone, with several hommages and interventions aimed to pay respect to the victims, as well to celebrate the memory of both late President Kwon Sang-jun and his father Kwon Jin-gyu, who died in 2011. The hommage tone certainly continued, but this time to celebrate the achievements of the People's Democratic Party, which has been in the government since 1983.
Those which expected policy debates, or at least a hint where the next administration may move towards, may have ended disappointed. While delegates voted in more than sixty resolutions and amends, they do not offer a radical shift of the government policy. In any case, it would not have been definitive, of course, as the final electoral manifesto and government program would be decided in the next meeting of the Djabidjani People's Coalition in which representatives of the People's Democratic Party and the other members of the coalition will probably announce their candidate to the presidency in the next legislative election, as well as a final announcement of the candidates.
Tieu Quang Vinh was elected as General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party, getting 56% of the votes against his rival mayor Hwang Yong-joon, who obtained 44%. Tieu becomes the first ethnic Kiêt to be elected PDP General Secretary, although it is not exactly a surprise, as Tieu had being acting General Secretary since late August. A former Minister of State Administration, Tieu Quang Vinh joined the PDP Secretariat in 2018. The election, which took place in the morning of the final day of the congress, did not feel as an exciting election, however, although certainly much more than in previous congress, in which the election of the General Secretary of the party was felt mostly as a (already announced) coronation.
Certainly, the General Secretary has always being of the official leader of the party, with the General Secretary also holding the office of the presidency of the republic (or doing so eventually, as it was the case of Kwon Sang-jun, who become General Secretary in 2009, two years before the death of his father).
It is not clear if this will be the case, however, and Tieu Quang Vinh's first speech as General Secretary did not feel as the speech of a recently elected leader, more like someone aimed to build bridges between rivals and colleagues. Certainly, there is nothing written in the party charter and rules than the General Secretary shall be the leader of the government. However, it is not that we should wait much time to see the final answer, as there is only one months before the next legislative election, and it is possible that a new president may be sworn before that date. In the meantime, we can only wait.
More importantly, however, the PDP congress also elected the new members of the 15-member National Executive Committee, the highest executive body of the People's Democratic Party. While more than half of the incumbent members were reelected, there was certainly a renovation -and not only because five members had died this year-, with a moderate generational replacement, with a slighly decrease of the average age. There were not many surprises, besides the return of current Speaker of the Parliament Shin Yong-Nam (who had was not reelected to the National Executive Committee in the 2014 congress), and Hong Tae-woo, who had been recently elected as PDP Secretary of Organization, and who becomes the only member in the National Executive Committee without experience in the central government.
Next week, the first meeting of the new National Executive Committee will be held, when it is expected that the a new Chairman of the People's Democratic Party -the second highest-ranking office in the party- as well as clearer visions of the future of both the party and the country.
| It has been cofirmed that businesswoman Lahn Thi Vo, late Minister Lahn Le Dung's elder daughter, has returned to Djabidjan after she was seen in Jangju International Airport last Friday.
Lahn, 48, has been working as a commercial representative in several Albion countries since 2019. It has been reported that she recently acquired a new home in an exclusive district in Jangju, the second largest city in the country.
According to close sources, however, it doesn't seem likely that she is going to run as candidate of the National Reform Party, as it was recently reported by a local newspaper. The National Reform Party, a member of the ruling Djabidjanian People's Coalition, is holding an important political conference next week, when a new leadership is expected to be announced, and where Lahn' sister, Lanh Thu Quy is expected to play an important role.
Another source close to Lahn's family also denied that the oldest sister had returned to Djabidjan in order to formalize the divorce with her husband, who works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that she is simply busy and concerned with her professional and business activities.
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