~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2002]

Vietnam's assembly keeps top leadership stable

HANOI - Vietnam's National Assembly, after voting to retain its chairman, has named Tran Duc Luong as the state president and looks set to uphold his nomination of prime minister for Phan Van Khai.

The majority of the 498-member legislative body voted in favor of Luong, a Communist Party technocrat, for another five-year term at the start of Wednesday's morning session. On Tuesday, assembly delegates approved to retain Chairman Nguyen Van An for the next five-year term.

President Luong then nominated Khai to continue in the post which he has held since September 1997, political sources said, adding that there were no opposing nominations. The country's highest legislative body, which meets twice a year, is scheduled to approve Luong's nomination of the Soviet-educated economist and reformist on Thursday. Khai has been credited with many of the policies which have boosted living standards and reformed parts of the cumbersome administration.

Vietnam's leadership consists of a triumvirate of president, prime minister and Communist Party general secretary -- a post held by 61-year-old Nong Duc Manh but not at stake this time. A Soviet-trained geologist, Luong, 65, has been in office since September 1997. The presidency has responsibility for foreign policy, the armed forces and internal party security, but is viewed as the least powerful of the three posts.

Tasked to built economy

Luong was quoted by state-run Voice of Vietnam radio as pledging to maintain high economic growth as well as integration into the world economy. "The task of building and developing the economy shall be prioritized," he said. "Vietnam wants to befriend and be a reliable partner with other countries in the international community," he added.

Luong was born in May 1937 in the central province of Quang Ngai, renowned for the toughness of its people and traditional conservative views. Geographically, he neatly balances the ruling troika. Party chief Nong Duc Manh is a northerner and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai comes from the south. Despite his economic expertise, he is viewed as closer politically to party centrists than to the southern reformers in the upper levels of the leadership.

As such, Luong sits in the party's elite Politburo but at the opposite end of Vietnam's narrow political spectrum to Khai. Medium-built with a dark complexion, he is a quiet, serious and cordial man fluent in Russian and proficient in English. Luong, described as a heavy smoker who likes to play badminton, is married with two daughters and a son. Despite his party upbringing, his resume is a catalog of technical rather than political posts. He served for a time as director of Vietnam's General Department of Geology and also as head of the National Assembly Science and Technology Commission.

In March 1982, he was elected an alternate member of the powerful Central Committee, then in 1987 became vice chairman of Vietnam's Council of Ministers, a post now defined as Deputy Prime Minister, which he held until he took the presidency.

The 20-day National Assembly session, started on July 19, yielded little about a cabinet reshuffle, planned to be announced on August 5. A party meeting early this month had drawn up nominations for the posts. As many as nine ministries, including the key trade post, could see new faces.

Reuters - July 24, 2002.


Vietnam's National Assembly re-elects president

HANOI - The National Assembly overwhelmingly approved a Communist Party decision to appoint Tran Duc Luong to a second five-year term as president, an assembly official said. Luong, the only candidate, received 97 percent of the votes cast in a ballot of the 498-member assembly, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The presidency is generally regarded as the least powerful post in Vietnam's leadership troika, which includes the Communist Party general secretary and prime minister. In his acceptance speech, Luong, a 65-year-old geologist, said legislative and judicial changes were needed to fight corruption and red tape.

"Strong improvements in reforming the legislative process, administrative reform and judicial reform will surely make important contributions to strengthening the efficiency of our state," he was quoted as saying by the official Vietnam News Agency. Luong was expected to recommend later Wednesday that the assembly also approve the party's decision to appoint Prime Minister Phan Van Khai for another five years, the official said. The Communist Party decided to keep the top posts unchanged so as to maintain stability, party insiders say.

It has been rocked in recent months by a corruption scandal in which scores of officials are accused of taking bribes from an underworld gang. The assembly is to vote on a broader Cabinet reshuffle on Aug. 5 in which at least seven ministers will be replaced and two new ministries created, government officials said. These are not expected to result in any major change in policy, which is set by the party.

Vietnam traditionally revamps its Cabinet after the election of a new National Assembly. The new assembly began its first session last Friday. Trade Minister Vu Khoan, who pushed through a landmark trade agreement with former foe United States and negotiated a land border agreement with China, is expected to be promoted as one of several deputy prime ministers in the reshuffle.

Deputy prime ministers Nguyen Tan Dung and Pham Gia Khiem are likely to retain their jobs, while the other two deputy prime ministers, Nguyen Manh Cam and Nguyen Cong Tan, will retire, government officials say.

The Associated Press - July 24, 2002.