Vietnam kicks off political reforms? Competitive election for national party boss?

The 10th Congress of Vietnamese Community Party started on April 18th and will last for one week. Unprecedentedly, there are two candidates for the post of Communist Party secretary general (the big boss of Vietnam).

Nong Duc Manh, the incumbent, was expected to hold the post for another term. The large scale corruptions in the transport ministry (the PMU18 scandle) that was uncovered  recently however anger the whole nation. Both within and outside the party, the call for Nong Duc Manh’s resignation is gaining momentum. Recently, three famous retired generals that gained their reputations from Vietnam war publicly denounced the government and pushed for reforms.

The communist party eventually decided that another candidate would be nominated to compete for the position, and whether Nong Duc Manh or the other candidate Nguyen Minh Triet (63 years old, who is the party boss of the South Vietnamese boom town Ho Chi Mihn City, and currently ranks the 4th in the national leadership) will become leader of the nation will be decided by Party’s Congress. The results will  be out within one week, and it is clear that both candidates have substantial supports from various fractions within the Vietnamese Communist Party.

The news is being widely cited in Chinese mainstream newspapers, and some comment that: for the past twenty years, Vietnam has been following the footstep of China’s economic reforms, and maybe China can learn from Vietnam too. As coverd by the Bulletin last month, a heated public debate over soicalism vs capitalism, and better privision of public goods through government reforms has been ongoing for some time in China.

Update (4/25/2006): the incumbent Nong Duc Manh has been re-elected.

The two candidates (the new candidate Nguyen Minh Triet on the right)