10 special things few people know about General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong

As someone who has been involved in Party building and organization work for a long time at the Central Organization Committee, and in particular, I spent several years as a member of the Politburo's Working Group and the Secretariat for the Steering Committee to implement Resolution 4 of the 11th Central Committee: "Some urgent issues on Party building at present" in which General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was directly the Head of the Steering Committee.

Although I knew that the General Secretary's health had recently declined and was not good, when I heard the Politburo's announcement about the health of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Politburo's decision to award the General Secretary the Gold Star Order - the most noble Order of our Party and State, my intuition told me that something "bad" was about to happen.

Then when I heard the official news that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had passed away and “returned to the world of the good”, I still could not control my emotions. My nose felt sore, my throat felt tight and tears welled up.

Along with the grief and great loss of the entire Party, people and army, I also provide some additional information about the life and career of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - things that many people do not know. It is also a stick of incense to pay respect to the soul of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and express my deepest condolences to his family.

Record of growth and development time

1. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is one of the two General Secretaries with the oldest age in office among the Party's General Secretaries. He was born on April 14, 1944, in Hoi Phu commune, Dong Ngan district, Bac Ninh province (now Dong Hoi commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi city) . On April 14 this year, he turned 80 years old.

2. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is one of the few people who was admitted to the Party while he was a fourth-year student at the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University. He was also one of the school's excellent students, so he wrote and defended his graduation thesis on the topic "The style of folk songs and folk songs in To Huu's poetry" .

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the ceremony to receive the 55-year Party membership badge (Photo: Pham Cuong).

Perhaps because of his "fate" with To Huu's poetry and To Huu's poetry has permeated his soul since his student days, in his writings and speeches, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong often quotes To Huu's poetry.

On February 2, 2023, when receiving the 55-year Party membership badge, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong borrowed To Huu's poem while in a French colonial prison to replace his promise to the Party: "With one second, one minute left to breathe/ Still fighting, determined not to stop" .

In the work “Trust and pride under the glorious flag of the Party, determined to build an increasingly rich, civilized, cultured and heroic Vietnam ” , the General Secretary also borrowed To Huu’s poem to express his pride and steadfast belief in his Party: “Our Party has a hundred hands and a thousand eyes/ Our Party has iron bones and bronze skin/ Our Party has millions of workers and farmers/ Our Party shares one heart and belief”.

And it was very touching when the General Secretary burned incense to pay respect to Uncle Ho at House 67 and visited the Presidential Palace. When he received a grapefruit from Uncle Ho's garden, the General Secretary was moved and choked up as he read four verses of the poet To Huu: "For whom is that grapefruit sweet and yellow? / For whom else is it fragrant, oh jasmine flower? / Where is Uncle Ho's shadow walking morning and night? / Around the lake's surface, white clouds drift...".

3. After 24 years of work, from a university graduate working at the Study Magazine - now the Communist Magazine (including nearly 5 years of studying at the Central Nguyen Ai Quoc Party School and in the Soviet Union) , he became the head of the Communist Magazine - the Party's political theory research agency, equivalent to a Minister. This is a record of the time of growth and development of a cadre that few people have.

The first case of being elected General Secretary for the third consecutive term

4. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the first case in which the National Congress of the Party - the highest leading body of the Party, has issued a resolution on the continued re-election of the 13th Central Executive Committee and proposed that the Central Executive Committee elect him to hold the position of General Secretary for a third consecutive term, because the current Party Charter stipulates that "The position of General Secretary shall not be held for more than two consecutive terms".

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the first person to be elected to hold the position of General Secretary for a third consecutive term (Photo: Dinh Trong Hai).

5. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong participated in the Central Executive Committee for 7 terms (from the 7th to the 13th term); participated in the Politburo for 6 terms (from the 8th to the 13th term); and was a National Assembly delegate for 5 terms (from the 11th to the 15th term). He also served 4 terms as a key leader of the Party and State, including 1 term as Chairman of the National Assembly and 3 terms as General Secretary of the Party (terms XI, XII, XIII).

6. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the third Vietnamese (after Uncle Ho and General Secretary Truong Chinh) to be both the head of the Party and the head of the State . During his tenure as General Secretary of the 12th tenure, he spent half of his term as both General Secretary and President.

Thus, exactly 50 years after Uncle Ho passed away, the Vietnamese people were able to hear a New Year's greeting poem from the General Secretary, who is also the President.

On New Year's Eve 2019, he quoted some verses: "This spring is better than the past springs/ Victory brings good news throughout the country/ The whole country rejoices in the new spring/ We continue to write the song of victory" .

On New Year's Eve 2020, he read a poem to wish everyone a happy new year: "Last year was a glorious victory/ This year the whole country will surely win even more/ Peace, happiness, prosperity/ Bring glory to the Fatherland and the Vietnamese cause".

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his wife Ngo Thi Man walk on The Huc Bridge (Hanoi) while attending the 2019 Homeland Spring program (Photo: Quang Vinh).

General Secretary with the highest academic title and degree

7. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is the Party General Secretary with the highest academic title and degree ever. He is a Professor, Doctor of Political Science, specializing in Party Building.

In 1992, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor by the State and in 2002, he was awarded the title of Professor . He spent many years as Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, Head of the National Party Congress Document Subcommittee, directly directing the drafting of the Political Report and leaving many marks in the Party's documents from the 9th Party Congress to the present (currently preparing the documents for the 14th Party Congress).

8. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is a “general” in the fight against “internal invaders”. With the responsibility of being the General Secretary directly serving as Head of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption and negativity, he and the Politburo have given strong direction with the spirit of “no forbidden zones, no exceptions, no privileges, no pressure from any organization or individual”, but very “humane, humane, just, benevolent, humane” and “convinced”.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is considered a "general" in the fight against "internal invaders" (Photo: Tien Tuan).

Therefore, the work of fighting corruption and negativity has never been directed so closely, systematically and implemented so strongly, resolutely and effectively as in recent years .

9. Since the 12th Party Congress, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has been both Secretary of the Central Military Commission and a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Public Security Party Committee. This is the first case in which the General Secretary of the Party has directly participated in the Standing Committee of the Central Public Security Party Committee.

10. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is one of President Ho Chi Minh's outstanding students in the cause of innovation; a typical model in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style.

He is truly a shining example of revolutionary ethics, diligence, thrift, integrity, impartiality, and action-orientedness. He is loved, respected, learned from, and followed by a large number of cadres, party members, and people.

Nguyen Duc Ha

Former Head of Central Organizing Committee

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/10-dieu-dac-biet-it-nguoi-biet-ve-tong-bi-thu-nguyen-phu-trong-20240719234728983.htm