Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong's advice about the "chair"

"Hit" Politburo member in a special way

Former Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Pham The Duyet: "Mr. Khai is a calm, confident, and decisive Prime Minister." Photo: Tran Thanh

The news of former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's passing has just been released. Was it difficult for you to say goodbye to a comrade of the same generation and with whom you had worked for a long time?

The death of Mr. Khai was not sudden to me. I knew he was sick for a while and not long ago, I also went to Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) to visit him. That was before he went to Singapore for treatment, although he was quite weak, lying on the hospital bed, he still enthusiastically shook my hand. He even asked the doctors to help him up to sit and talk to me. At that time, he was weak and tired but still smiled when we talked about old stories.

Last year, when I had a job in Saigon, I also visited him at his house in Cu Chi. We had many long years of work together with many shared experiences.

Khai and I joined the Politburo in 1991, and being “elected” to the Politburo was also very special. The other day when I visited him in Cu Chi, we also talked about that and both of us laughed together. It was a matter of the Party but also a memorable memory for the two of us.

The afternoon before the list of nominations for the Politburo was presented, both of our names were there. But the next morning when it was officially announced to the Central Committee, neither of our names were there. I said, no, neither my position as Secretary of Hanoi nor your position as Deputy Prime Minister at that time required Politburo membership. But unexpectedly, when it came to the Central Committee, the whole conference was in an uproar and finally it was decided that morning not to hold the election but to go back and discuss and introduce the list again. By the afternoon, both of our names were back on the list and when it was put up for election, we both won.

That is a memory that every time Khai mentions it, he just smiles.

So you and former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai had 3-4 terms as Central Committee members, at least 2 terms participating in the Politburo together. During that time working together, what do you remember most about your comrade?

Mr. Khai was a cadre from the South who regrouped in the North. It is true that we participated in the Central Committee for 4 terms, if we count the time I was in charge of the Fatherland Front, there were 5-6 terms and in every environment we had connections.

First of all, it must be said that Mr. Khai is a very honest, approachable person, and treats people very simply and sincerely. In his work, he has held the positions of Chairman of the Planning Committee, Deputy Prime Minister, and then Prime Minister. He is always very simple, sincere, approachable but still straightforward, and that is the straightforwardness of an intellectual, treating people very fairly.

I really appreciate that quality in Mr. Khai. For a high-ranking leader, not everyone has that, sincerity, closeness to comrades, no superior, condescending treatment.

In terms of qualifications, Mr. Khai is a well-trained cadre, a person who was gathered and brought to the Central Committee early, given the opportunity to study and train in the Soviet Union in the field of management, and also experienced many important jobs in the direction of nurturing good factors for the apparatus.

In every position, Mr. Khai always performed his duties meticulously and seriously. When he returned to the Central Committee in 1982, he had matured, had been tested by fire, and had risen through practical experience and practical knowledge, not through degrees, pomp, or formality.

The Prime Minister is neither afraid of responsibility nor complacent about power.

Mr. Pham The Duyet (2nd row, 2nd from right) respectfully keeps a photo of him and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (front row, 2nd from left) with the 8th Politburo and advisors.

What about your peers, sir?

We have many years of working together and have no regrets in coordinating activities. When I was Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, he was Deputy Prime Minister. The work of the capital is always closely linked to the central government, any difficulties have the help of the central government in general, and Mr. Khai is the person directly in charge because at that time he was the permanent Deputy Prime Minister of the Government, the person who ran the work with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. Since then, our awareness of the people, the capital, and the country has been very unified, if there are difficulties, we will discuss and resolve them.

In the 8th term, I was a member of the Politburo, he was the Prime Minister, a period when we had many opportunities to be close, close, and work together, deciding many issues together. I highly appreciated Mr. Khai for his sense of coordination, solidarity, and sincerity. He and I often confided in each other that we should not let people talk about the distinction between the "white house" and the "red house", that is, between the Government and the Party, but rather we must be close and responsible.

We often laugh and confide that when it comes to the Government's management and the Prime Minister's authority, you should try to do it, do it decisively, without hesitation, but if there are any matters that you are still concerned about because they are important and cannot be decided immediately, just "throw" them to me, discuss them together, then I and the Politburo Standing Committee will take responsibility.

With this mindset, he has overcome all difficulties in domestic and foreign affairs, socio-economic strategies, integration issues, border demarcation discussions with China, resolving difficulties arising when the world situation is complicated, handling money issues during the financial crisis... all of which he has done very carefully, without fear of responsibility, but on the contrary, he has never been subjective or complacent about the power of a leader.

I highly appreciate both of those qualities in him. He is a calm, unenthusiastic person but very talented.

What can be called the mark of both of you?

When dealing with the hot spots in Thai Binh, in 1997, Mr. Khai was still Deputy Prime Minister at that time. I remember one evening inviting Mr. Khai and Mr. Phieu (former General Secretary Le Kha Phieu) to a meeting to discuss solutions. Mr. Khai always chose difficult places to attend the meeting and listen directly.

That is why when I proposed to set up a working group, Mr. Khai was very supportive, and the Government immediately appointed Mr. Nguyen Cong Tan (Deputy Prime Minister - PV) as Deputy Head of my working group, along with Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who was then Deputy Minister of Finance, Director General of the General Department of Land, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Police... who were very astute people to participate in solving the problem.

We went to the communes and districts to find out the reasons why people were so dissatisfied and protested, to assess the reality of the corruption of officials and how it caused resentment among the people. Everything after that had to be resolved from the policy to resolve the hot spots. More than 1,000 officials, including more than half of the Standing Committee of Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee, were disciplined and had to be transferred to other jobs at that time, which was very painful... Through the incident, we also saw the precious solidarity and unity in the Politburo at that time.

“Never covet a chair”

Mr. Pham The Duyet shared a photo of Mr. Phan Van Khai still smiling, shaking hands, and asking to sit up to talk to his friend while in the hospital bed.

The working period of former Prime Minister Nguyen Van Khai as well as the generation of leaders at that time was the first years of the renovation period, with many challenges. Mr. Khai was also the one who initiated many new issues at that time such as promoting private economic development, integration, normalizing relations with the US... How did Mr. Khai convince the Politburo about those issues?

It was very difficult, like the matter of joining the WTO, at that time Mr. Khai always had to bring Mr. Tuyen (Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen - PV) with him, any problems that arose had to be thoroughly presented to the Politburo. The same was true of border issues, like the dispute at Tuc Lam beach (Mong Cai), Ban Gioc waterfall (Cao Bang), at the peak of Ha Giang... all had to be discussed very carefully, it was not simple, but afterwards the policy was very unified.

Regarding domestic affairs, at that time there were also many thorny issues, and many high-ranking officials, from Deputy Prime Minister like Mr. Ngo Xuan Loc to Minister like Mr. Le Huy Ngo or the Minister of Health at that time had to give up...

During that whole process, I found Mr. Khai's work very good. Personally, I really respect and appreciate his contributions.

Mr. Khai did not have the famous appearance of "beating gongs and drums" but looking back at that period, he solved many things, such as the integration issue, he was the first person to go to the US, joining the WTO, solving the border demarcation issue, joining ASEAN... All of those things cannot be mentioned without mentioning Mr. Khai's contributions. Then there were new decisions on tax issues such as VAT, at that time no one understood anything but he convinced the Party leadership to do it together.

I appreciate his role, calm, confident but decisive. During his tenure as Prime Minister, economic growth was high and steady, and his policies had many points that I considered very bold. That is why the Central Committee decided to award him the Gold Star Order, which we think is very correct and worthy.

There were no collisions during that process, sir?

During our activities in the Politburo at that time, our comradeship was sincere and straightforward, without any personal motives. When Mr. Pham Van Dong came to visit me, Mr. Khai was also there. He patted the chair and said: "Mr. Duyet, remember, never be greedy for this." Those teachings were profound and made me feel deeply. I believe that Mr. Khai also thought the same way.

Thank you!