Vietnam communist party extends Meeting on leadership change
HANOI - Vietnam's Communist Party has extended a meeting of its powerful Central Committee by two or three days
after failing to reach an agreement on whether to replace its top party leader, officials said Tuesday.
Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu has been under heavy pressure to resign at an upcoming national party congress, but
appears to have gained more support in recent weeks.
The highly unusual impasse so close to the start of the party congress indicates a high level of turmoil within the party as it
attempts to maintain its tight grip on power.
Economic reforms threaten to endanger the party's authority by taking economic power from the state-controlled sector and
putting it into private hands. Officials also have been shaken by recent anti-government protests by ethnic minority groups in the
Central Highlands, and by demands by several religious figures for increased freedom.
Massive and growing corruption also has damaged the party's image. According to a recent survey by the Hong Kong-based
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Group, Vietnam has become Asia's most corrupt country, surpassing Indonesia.
Differences between Vietnam's two main policy-making leaders - Phieu and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai - over economic
reforms also have weakened the party's authority.
While Khai is an advocate of broad-based economic reform, Phieu is fighting for a strong state presence in the economy.
At a meeting in January, the 170-member Central Committee proposed that no one over age 65 should stand for re-election,
except for key figures, and that top officials shouldn't be over age 70. That proposal was seen as an effort to encourage the
resignation of Phieu, who turns 70 this December.
As Vietnam struggles toward economic and social reforms, its image remains one held back by an elderly, conservative
leadership.
The recent unrest has prompted some veteran revolutionaries to fear change and suggest that Phieu and other top leaders
remain in their posts for several more years to maintain internal stability.
The timing of the party's national congress - originally scheduled for late March - still hasn't been set, an official in the party's
External Relations Commission said.
The congress, held every five years to ratify personnel changes and set the country's agenda, will be pushed back until at least
early April, he said.
President Tran Duc Luong and National Assembly Speaker Nong Duc Manh are believed to be front runners for the top party
position if Phieu steps down.
The Associated Press - March 20, 2001.
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