[Reuters] Hanoi hints at personnel changes ahead of congress

["DiemQuynh Nguyen" <diemquynhng@hotmail.com>]

Hanoi hints at personnel changes ahead of congress
        06:31 a.m. Aug 18, 1999 Eastern
  HANOI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Vietnam's ruling Communist Party hinted on
  Wednesday that ministerial changes might result from efforts to streamline 
the nation's state and party administration over the next two years.
Dao Duy Quat, deputy head of the party's powerful Culture and Ideology 
Commission, gave no details on possible personnel changes, saying this would 
depend on the plan to revamp the bureaucracy ahead of the party's ninth 
congress in 2001.
Without giving absolute figures, he said 15 percent of administrative staff 
under key government and party bodies would be laid off under the plan, 
which was devised at a plenum of the 170-member party central committee that 
ended on Monday.
Subsidies would help those bureaucrats laid off, he said.
No ministries would be merged, while some might even be split, Quat said, 
adding that the greatest rationalisation would come by cutting and merging 
less important agencies under the government and party that had overlapping 
functions.
No specific details had been worked out yet, Quat said.
Under Vietnam's opaque political system, the government is responsible for 
day-to-day management of the country, but party members hold all key posts 
and major decisions are approved by the elite 19-member party politburo or 
central committee.
Asked about speculation among diplomats of impending ministerial changes, 
Quat ruled out any sudden moves.
``From now until the ninth congress the personnel arrangements will depend 
on the rearrangement of the party and state apparatus,'' Quat told a  
briefing for foreign media.
``That means there might be changes in personnel in line with the campaign 
to revamp and regenerate the party and state administration,'' he added.
A party congress, which takes place every five years, is the key event on 
Vietnam's political landscape and sets the political and economic tone for 
the subsequent period.
Diplomats and government sources had previously said a key pillar of the 
administrative revamp might be to merge the Planning and Investment Ministry 
with the Finance Ministry.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is also expected to soon step down as 
governor of the central bank and be replaced by Le Duc Thuy, the current 
permanent deputy governor.
It was unclear if the administrative revamp would affect the ruling troika 
of Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu, President Tran Duc Luong or Prime 
Minister Phan Van Khai, who were all appointed in 1997, diplomats said.
Their collective rule has been marked by indecision, partly because they 
lack the charisma and authority of previous leaders such as Do Muoi and Vo 
Van Kiet, the most recent party chief and prime minister respectively, 
diplomats and analysts say.



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