Vietnam annoints new leader after ouster of hardline party chief
HANOI - Vietnam's ruling communist party finally annointed its new leader Nong Duc Manh Sunday after a murky
selection process to replace conservative army man Le Kha Phieu who was ousted in a fierce power struggle which has riven
the political elite.
Manh's elevation was not due to be formally announced until the closing ceremony of the party's five-yearly congress later
Sunday.
But challenged by journalists on the sidelines Sunday morning, congress spokesman Huu Tho implicitly confirmed his
appointment.
"I am happy about (the replacement of Phieu by Manh)," he said.
The 60-year-old former parliament chief, who is Vietnam's first ever top leader from the country's 54 ethnic minorities, was due
to give a first press conference immediately after the formal announcement.
An ethnic Tay from Vietnam's northern minorities, he can expect to be challenged about longstanding rumours here that he is an
illegitmate son of venerated wartime leader Ho Chi Minh.
"Who knows if the rumours are true, but they have certainly done his career no harm," one Western diplomat told AFP.
Manh's ousted predecessor was also expected to be given an opportunity to say his farewells following his ouster after little
more than three years in power.
Phieu, whose performance has been widely criticised as lacklustre, is the first secretary general in the party's 71-year history
not to serve out a full five-year term.
His departure has certainly raised few tears in Washington -- the lifelong army commissar was always the leading champion
within the leadership for anti-US hardliners here.
When then president Bill Clinton made a landmark visit here in November -- the first by a US head of state -- Phieu marred the
atmosphere of reconcilation and rapprochement between the former foes which had been carefully nurtured by US officials.
In an uncomfortable meeting with the US president, the party chief declined to put the Vietnam War behind him, instead
launching a vigorous defence of the conflict as a "great socialist victory."
The ouster of the conservative ideologue is expected to give a fresh impetus to communist Vietnam's 15-year-old market
reforms.
Even though Manh himself is not a reformer but someone with links to both of Vietnam's rival ideological camps, the wounding
of Phieu's proteges in the security apparatus has boosted the influence of economic reformers.
But the leading reformer within the regime, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sounded a note of caution Saturday, insisting that the
government would remain very cautious about exposing the state-controlled economy to external shocks.
"You may know that in some countries when they had a crisis in the economy, it caused political instability. Vietnam is trying to
avoid that," he said.
Vietnam has been rocked by severe unrest in the countryside as rampant abuses and corruption have eroded the party's
prestige among its traditional bedrock support, the peasantry.
A wave of protests among the mainly Christian ethnic minorities of the central highlands which sparked an army crackdown in
early February constitutes Vietnam's worst violence in years.
The party is expected to use the closing ceremony of the congress to put on a show of unity after the unseemly details of the
bitter factional feuding which accompanied Phieu's ouster were widely leaked.
Former prime minister Vo Van Kiet confirmed Saturday that a warning was issued to all members of the party's elite politburo
after what party sources say was widespread abuse of the military intelligence services by both Phieu and his opponents.
The battle to find a consensus replacement for the party chief went on for months -- Manh was only finally selected at a
behind-the-scenes meeting of the party's central committee-designate on Tuesday.
Vietnamese officials repeatedly insisted that the formal decision would only be taken in a further vote on the sidelines of the
congress Saturday.
But in the event no less than three different officials told AFP that no such vote had taken place.
The congress spokesman insisted there had been some "acts of election" on Saturday which had "completed the lengthy
selection process."
But challenged to say when or where they had taken place, he declined to answer, saying it was an "internal matter for the
party."
His comments flew in the face of his repeated undertakings before the congress that the selection process would be one of
"democracy and transparency."
By Steve Kirby - Agence France Presse - April 22, 2001.
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