by Vu Kim Chung
29-11-2000
The trappings of wealth some Vietnamese cadres have accumulated since the transition to a market economy are fracturing the Communist Party and giving weight to public disquiet about official corruption. Now, some members said the only option is for the party to abandon tradition and fully embrace the private enterprise system. Unprecedented coverage of policy meetings for the Ninth Party Congress in March 2001 revealed strong challenges to party conservatives.
The state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper acknowledged on November 28 that 15 years of economic reform had created an alternative vision which, according to Ha Giang province representative Dang Vu Liem, was straining party cohesion.
"Even within the party there is an increasing gap between rich and poor. It is difficult for a rich party member who lives like a king to share the same sense of purpose as a poor one," he said. Mr Liem added that uneven prosperity among party members was creating division at every level within the party and public resentment over the increasingly obvious abuse of privilege.
Recent statistics showed the number of Vietnamese denouncing party officials had grown to more than 170,000 in 2000, up 12 percent on the number of complaints for the same period in 1999. According to National Assembly member Ngo Ba Thanh, most complaints were related to the misappropriation of land, corruption, embezzlement and the arbitrary application of the law.
"Though we call ourselves a jurisdictional government, authority is not exercised according to legislation," he said. "As a result, more people are gathering in front of offices and the homes of officials [in protest]."
Ordinary Vietnamese appear to be increasingly contemptuous of officials - whose wealth is often displayed in the form of luxury vehicles and palatial homes. They are asking how people on monthly salaries of little more than US$30 a month, and who are restricted in their business activities, could afford such lavish lifestyles. Obviously they are stealing it, much from foreign aid aimed at rural development, but also from extortion by officials to provide what are otherwise lawful government services to the people.
National Assembly member Nguyen Thi Mai provided one possible answer on Noevmebr 28 by stating that 50 percent of people charged with economic crimes were Communist Party members. According to Assembly delegate Pham Minh Ha, the only solution was for the party to abandon tradition and embrace private enterprise.
"Why are party members prohibited from developing business bases?" he said. "They are citizens and have rights to make their pile through legal means, and the party should also encourage excellent entrepreneurs to become members." One party member agreed, saying that internal cohesion and respect for the party by non-members could only be assured by a new approach.
"I strongly believe that a requirement for party membership should be intellect and the ability to do business," the party member said. "Owning a private business is a way to generate jobs, raise incomes and therefore contribute to social welfare."