An election implies a choice. It implies a contest of visions, a debate over the future, and a mandate granted by the governed. Việt Nam’s recently concluded 14th National Party Congress offered none of these. Instead, it was a meticulously choreographed absurdist play where the script was written months in advance, the actors knew their lines by heart, and the audience—the Vietnamese people—was strictly barred from the stage.

The National Party Congress is theoretically the country’s most significant political event and is held every five years to select leadership and determine the nation’s trajectory. On paper, it is the mechanism by which the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) manifests the collective will of the people into policy. However, upon the conclusion of this year’s proceedings, it becomes glaringly evident that the purpose of this Congress was to uphold and safeguard the entrenched power of a select few.