Hanoi - The reformist National Assembly chairman, Mr Nong Duc Manh, is to be named Vietnam's new leader in place of the conservative Mr Le Kha Phieu, at the Communist Party congress in Hanoi, a senior official said. Mr Phieu (70), current leader of the ruling party, said he would make way for a younger man if the conditions were right and the formal session of the five-yearly congress so decided.
Mr Manh is 61 and widely rumoured to be a son of the late revolutionary hero, Ho Chi Minh. A formal vote will be taken tomorrow with an announcement on Sunday.
Mr Phieu told the conference that the party's aim should be to achieve a "socialist-orientated market economy" and to clean up rampant corruption. The congress is expected to endorse a 10-year socio-economic development plan backed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.