Lê Khả Phiêu

Lê Khả Phiêu
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
In office 26 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded by	Đỗ Mười
Succeeded by	Nông Đức Mạnh
Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party
In office 29 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded by	Đỗ Mười
Succeeded by	Nông Đức Mạnh
Chairman of the General Political Department of the People's Army
In office September 1991 – December 1997
Preceded by	Nguyễn Quyết
Succeeded by	Phạm Thanh Ngân
Personal details
Born	(1931-12-27)27 December 1931 Thanh Hóa Province
Died	7 August 2020(2020-08-07) (aged 88) Hanoi
Political party	Communist Party of Vietnam (1949-2001)

Lê Khả Phiêu (27 December 1931 – 7 August 2020) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001.

Early life

Lê Khả Phiêu was in the Vietnam People's Army during the First and Second Indochina Wars, join in the Cambodian war, and was Head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army.

Political career

Lê Khả Phiêu has previously been viewed as a conservative. However, this categorization has been challenged by historian Martin Gainsborough, who notes that Lê Khả Phiêu made some remarkably outspoken comments about problems in the party before the Tenth Party Congress. Lê Khả Phiêu criticized what he called 'illness of partyization' (bệnh đảng hoá), meaning that the Party controls everything. Lê Khả Phiêu was a protégé of his predecessor, Đỗ Mười. He was elevated to the Politburo in the early 1990s.

Death

Lê Khả Phiêu died on August 7, 2020 in Hanoi, at age 88.