PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Vietnamese President To Lam was confirmed Saturday as the new chief of the Communist Party after his predecessor died July 19.
Lam will be the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s most powerful political role, state media said. It was unclear if Lam will stay in his role as president.
The previous general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, dominated Vietnamese politics since he became party chief in 2011. He was elected to a third term as general secretary in 2021. He was an ideologue who viewed corruption as the gravest threat facing the party.
In his first speech as the Communist Party chief, Lam said that him taking the reigns was because of “an urgent need to ensure the leadership of the party.”
Lam said he would maintain the legacies of his predecessor, notably the anti-corruption campaign that has rocked the country’s political and business elites and a pragmatic approach to foreign policy known as bamboo diplomacy — a phrase coined by Trong referring to the plant’s flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of global geopolitics.
Lam spent over four decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming the minister in 2016. As Vietnam’s top security official, Lam led Trong’s sweeping anti-graft campaign until May, when he became president following the resignation of his predecessor, who stepped down after being caught by the campaign.
Big changes in Vietnam’s strategic approach are unlikely, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, but Lam's relative newness to governing meant that it remains to be seen how he will lead.
Given the current composition of the upper echelons of Vietnamese politics, Giang said it was possible that Lam’s promotion could mean an end to the internal fighting that has rocked the party for several years.
“To Lam is the new unchallenged power who will dominate Vietnamese politics in the years, if not a decade, ahead,” he said.
Giang said the party will vote for the general secretary again in 2026, and Lam’s performance will be a factor.
“For now, however, it seems a new era has come,” he said.
Vietnamese President To Lam delivers a speech during a news conference held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which elected Lam as the new Communist Party Chief, the country’s most power role, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, Hanoi, Vietnam. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
Vietnamese President To Lam meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, Saturday July 27, 2024. (Luong Thai Linh/Pool Photo via AP)
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, right, congratulates Vietnamese President To Lam with flowers as he was confirmed the new Community Party Chief, the country's most power role on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, Hanoi, Vietnam. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
CONWAY, N.H. (AP) — College football players aspire to play in bowls games. Professional players dream of playing in the Super Bowl.
A bunch of amateurs in New Hampshire just want to get muddy.
On Sunday, a three-day sloppy, muddy mess wrapped up for the Mud Bowl, which is celebrating its 50th year of football featuring players trudging though knee-deep muck while trying to reach the end zone.
For these athletes, playing in mud brings out their inner child.
“You’re playing football in the mud, so you've got to have a smile on your face,” said Jason Veno, the 50-year-old quarterback of the North Country Mud Crocs, who described mud as an equalizer. “It’s just a different game in the mud. It doesn’t matter how good you are on grass. That doesn’t matter in the mud.”
The annual event takes place at Hog Coliseum, located in the heart of North Conway. It kicked off Friday night with revelry and music, followed by a Tournament of Mud Parade on Saturday. All told, a dozen teams with men and women competed in the tournament in hopes of emerging as the soiled victor.
Ryan Martin said he’s been playing mud ball for almost 20 years and said it’s a good excuse to meet up with old friends he’s grown up with.
“You get to a point where you’re just like, I’m not going pro on anything I might as well feel like I’m still competing day in and day out,” he said.
He also acknowledged that the sport has some lingering effects — mostly with mud infiltrating every nook and cranny of his body.
“It gets in the eyes. You get cracks in your feet. And you get mud in your toenails for weeks,” he said. “You get it in your ears too. You’ll be cleaning out your ears for a long while …you’ll be blowing your nose and you’ll get some dirt and you’re like, oh, I didn’t know I still had that there.”
Mahala Smith is also sold on the camaraderie of the event.
She said she fell in love with football early in life and has been playing the sport since first grade and ultimately joined a women’s team for tackle football in 2018 and played that for a few years before she was invited to play in the mud.
She said the weekend was a treat.
“It’s like a little mini vacation and everyone’s all friendly,” she said. “People hang out at the hotels and restaurants, people camp, we all have fires and stuff, just like a nice group event.”
Even though it's fun, the teams are serious about winning. And the two-hand touch football can get chippy on the field of play, but it's all fun once the games are over. Many of the players were star high school or college athletes, and there have been a smattering of retired pros over the years, Veno said.
The theme was “50 Years, The Best of Five Decades.” Over the years, the event has raised more than $1 million for charity, officials said.
A Muckaneer's player dunks himself in a tub to clean off after a football game at the 2024 Mud Bowl Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Jacob "Moose" Colon, of Westfield, Mass., of the Muckaneers, hoses off after a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Tori Belkin, foreground, and the Hogettes, entertain the crowd in between football games at the Mud Bowl competition in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Mud-splattered sideline official Kellie Gramstorff holds a first down marker during a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Mahala Smith, of Sabattus, Maine, scrambles for yardage during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Amanda Lackey, of Bow, N.H., is splattered with mud as she walks back to the huddle during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Eric Germelli, bottom, and Kevin Terban, of the Mudsharks, defend against Josh Phillips, of the Muddas, on a pass in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The Muckaneers take on the Muddas' at the 2024 Mud Bowl football game at Hog Coliseum Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Andre Rioux, of Nashua, N.H., dives for the ball in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Mike Woodworth, of the the Muddas, goes down after making a catch in a football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 3024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The Mudshark's Jevin Smith, center, gets around Muddas' blocker Kurt Mailloux to put pressure on quarterback Jay Holder in a football game at the 2024 Mud Bowl Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in North Conway, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
