Vietnam leader pledges openness

Vietnam leader pledges openness

4/23/2001

HANOI, Reuters

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party on Sunday named reform-leaning National Assembly chairman Nong Duc Manh as its new secretary-general, the country's most powerful leadership post.

Manh, National Assembly chief since 1992, became the first party chief from an ethnic minority background and the first with a university degree.

Looking much younger than his 61 years, Manh, an ethnic Tay, seemed confident at a news conference after his appointment, pledging to continue Vietnam's opening to the world and appearing to deny rumors he is Ho Chi Minh's illegitimate son.

He also vowed "tougher and tougher" measures to stamp out pervasive corruption within the communist system.

Manh laughed when asked about reports his father was Vietnam's foremost revolutionary hero, who died in 1969.

"I have parents, but unfortunately my parents died when I was very young," he said. "...But let me repeat. In Vietnam, all Vietnamese are Uncle Ho's children."

Analysts note such talk is unlikely to have harmed his career. Manh has been vague about such questions in the past.

Vietnam, one of few remaining communist countries, chose the 131st anniversary of the birth of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin for Manh's appointment.

Manh replaced unpopular 70-year-old conservative Le Kha Phieu, who was criticized during his two-and-half years in office as ineffective and tainted by accusations that he abused the intelligence services to protect his position.

Phieu, who was not named as a member of the central committee, handed Manh flowers and embraced him to applause from the 1,168 congress delegates.

"I am very glad because the successor has been well prepared and because he is from the young generation," he told Reuters.

He said: "I only regret some things which were not done properly, for example the fight against corruption and bureaucracy. We tried but it hasn't been done fully."

Manh said he would give up his National Assembly post and that three retiring elderly party advisers would not be replaced. Analysts say the advisers had appeared to interfere in leadership decisions, hampering reform.

In a closing speech, Manh said the Congress had opened "a new era". "The future of our nation is very bright, but there will be not a small number of difficulties and challenges....We have to heighten our patriotism and self-reliance but at the same time, broaden our relations with our friends in the world."

Manh also stressed the need to maintain stability and keep the party "clean and strong".

"We must fight against negativeness, especially bureaucracy, corruption and wastefulness," he said.

Manh called for unity to maintain independence and build socialism while moving Vietnam out of poverty, hunger and underdevelopment and towards industrialization.

Manh will head a 15-member politburo, for the first time with only one military representative - Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.

Foreign investors hope for speedier reform, but Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, expected to see out a five-year term begun in 1997, struck a cautious note on Saturday by saying that relying too much on foreign money risked instability.

The other figure in the leadership trio, state President Tran Duc Luong, is expected to remain for now. He and the head of the party organizing committee, Nguyen Van An, have been mentioned as candidates for Manh's National Assembly role.

Manh will also head a nine-member secretariat replacing a five-member politburo standing board handling day-to-day work. The board includes five politburo members and Minister of Trade Vu Khoan.

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