Soviet-Empire.com U.S.S.R. and communism historical discussion.
06 Mar 2006, 22:24
Communist debate grips Vietnam
So is Vietnam drifting away from Socialism?
Quote:In Vietnam, February and March are supposed to be a good time for relaxation, after the exuberant Lunar New Year.
But Vietnamese media have been absorbed since the end of January in a difficult and sensitive debate - over the leadership of the Communist Party, or rather a lack of it.
Online news services and newspapers have run discussion forums and printed articles containing questions which were impossible to ask a few years ago.
The debate had become so heated that the party's newspaper has recently stepped in to try to prevent it from "running in a dangerous and harmful way".
It all began early this year with a formal request by the party leadership for people's views on its political platform in the run-up to its 10th National Congress, expected to take place in the next few months.
This has provided a rare opportunity for many intellectuals, journalists, lawyers and even government officials to criticise what is perceived to be widespread corruption and abuse of power by a number of the party mandarins.
For example, economist Bui Kien Thanh said on a webcast talk show on Vietnamnet, one of the country's leading online news services, that "if the party is genuinely serious about democracy, they must allow Vietnamese people to choose their political leadership".
Another guest speaker, Nguyen Dinh Luong, also made very direct comments, saying: "There have been many lies about the government's economic achievement, and in general, a lot of political diseases in the system, due to bad policies and poor leadership."
Nguyen Dinh Luong is no dissident, but a high government official who represented Vietnam at the US-Vietnamese Trade Agreement negotiations some years back.
In the south, pro-reformist Tuoi Tre newspaper has launched a series of articles by Nguyen Trung, a former diplomat and currently an adviser to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
These have criticised "lack of democracy" in the party, and claim it has lost its direction after two decades of economic reforms.
Online users have flooded Tuoi Tre's forum with comments about Nguyen Trung's views.
Some have gone so far as to question the party's control over government departments and over almost every aspect of the economy.
The Communist Party of Vietnam currently has a final say in the nomination of all senior government officials to important posts in all ministries and state-owned co-operations, where many corruption cases have recently been investigated.
So is Vietnam drifting away from Socialism?
07 Mar 2006, 08:41
Hm, it seems the article above is trying to make things more serious. In fact, our mass media are showing people's views on the "đổi mới" (Renovation) that Việt Nam is taking.
This is a big discussion on whether the Communist Party should allow its members to do capitalist business or not. Some people said that allowing the party members to do so will expanding democracy in our country, because "Party members are also Vietnamese citizens, they have the right to do private economy since the đổi mới", meanwhile, some said that "this will contradict the Party's regulations, which consider capitalists as exploiters". What do you think so? In Việt Nam nowadays, only non-party members can do private businesses. If we continue to keep this, a large number of party members cannot get richer, but if we allow them to do capitalist business, they'll receive more support from the government, because of their membership!
Besides, intellectuals and enthusiasts are urging the government and especially, the Party, to solve the problem of "corruption" in Việt Nam nowadays.
I'm reading newspapers and watching TV everyday. There's no complaint about human rights or political status!
This is a big discussion on whether the Communist Party should allow its members to do capitalist business or not. Some people said that allowing the party members to do so will expanding democracy in our country, because "Party members are also Vietnamese citizens, they have the right to do private economy since the đổi mới", meanwhile, some said that "this will contradict the Party's regulations, which consider capitalists as exploiters". What do you think so? In Việt Nam nowadays, only non-party members can do private businesses. If we continue to keep this, a large number of party members cannot get richer, but if we allow them to do capitalist business, they'll receive more support from the government, because of their membership!
Besides, intellectuals and enthusiasts are urging the government and especially, the Party, to solve the problem of "corruption" in Việt Nam nowadays.
I'm reading newspapers and watching TV everyday. There's no complaint about human rights or political status!
12 Dec 2006, 05:48
Hello, ComViet!
It's definitely a great policy to keep party members lean. Otherwise, they would become a new elite and seek to re-establish capitalism to profit further. The cadres are the warrior-monks of Communism. They should be ascetic fanatics totally devoted to the Proletariat.
Now Vietnam is getting by these tough times of American hegemony by tolerating some capitalist investment. There is nothing wrong with that since the global circumstances demand it. Having an exploiter-free party with its hands on the political power will of course be a plus when it comes time to expropriate the [temporary] Vietnamese petty-bourgeoisie as American power wanes.
Three Cheers for SR Vietnam!
It's definitely a great policy to keep party members lean. Otherwise, they would become a new elite and seek to re-establish capitalism to profit further. The cadres are the warrior-monks of Communism. They should be ascetic fanatics totally devoted to the Proletariat.
Now Vietnam is getting by these tough times of American hegemony by tolerating some capitalist investment. There is nothing wrong with that since the global circumstances demand it. Having an exploiter-free party with its hands on the political power will of course be a plus when it comes time to expropriate the [temporary] Vietnamese petty-bourgeoisie as American power wanes.
Three Cheers for SR Vietnam!
02 Jan 2016, 15:12
Socialism works! Even if majority who vote for a bourgeoisie parliament are not disaffected, there are those who were marginalized, discriminated and left hungry and homeless until a socialist government frees them from the shackles of consumerism, imperialism and colonization. Vietnam is indeed a paradise for the peasants and workers and not for the 1%.