To Lam emerges as Vietnam’s ‘supreme leader’ after being elected president

Vietnam’s Communist Party boss To Lam was elected president by the National Assembly on Tuesday, capping his bid to centralise authority in a nation where senior cadres have traditionally governed collectively. In less than two years as party chief, the 68-year-old has swept aside rivals and transformed the country through an aggressive reform drive – literally redrawing the map as he combined provinces and slashed bureaucracy. Lam has set an ambitious target of 10 per cent annual growth for the...