Thousands of mourners have gathered in Hanoi for the second day of the funeral Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who dominated Vietnamese politics for more than a decade.
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His death, at 80, last week in Hanoi marked the start of a succession struggle that will likely to continue until the National Party Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party in 2026.
Trong's coffin, draped in the red and yellow of Vietnam's flag, was laid beneath his smiling portrait and dozens of medals at the National Funeral House in Hanoi on Thursday.
All flags in the Southeast Asian nation flew at half-mast during the two-day period of national mourning, while all sports and entertainment were suspended.
He will be buried at Mai Dich cemetery, the final resting place for military heroes and senior party officials, later on Friday.
Top Communist Party officials paid tribute, including President To Lam, who took over as caretaker general secretary a day before Trong's death was announced.
Thousands of people queued in Hanoi late into Thursday to light incense and pay their respects.
Politburo member Luong Cuong said Thursday his death was "an extremely huge, irreparable loss to the Party, the state, the people and his family".
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo; Wang Huning, the fourth-ranked leader in the Chinese Communist Party; former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga; Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez; and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were among those in attendance on Thursday.
Trong, who studied in the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1983, was the first Vietnamese Communist Party chief to visit the White House.
He advocated a pragmatic foreign policy of "bamboo diplomacy", a phrase he coined that refers to the plant's flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of geopolitics.
Trong viewed corruption as the gravest threat to the party's legitimacy, and launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign known as "blazing furnace" that singed both business and political elites.
The campaign was led by then-top security official To Lam until he was made president in May after his predecessor resigned amid corruption allegations.
Lam is the favourite to get a full term as Trong's successor but there is no guarantee.
Australian Associated Press
