VN news (July 19)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

Independent candidates see more democracy in Vietnam 
Hybrid Vietnamese Sect Marks Milestone Religion:
Hanoi Ablaze with Red on Eve of Elections 
Vietnam targets 14.1 percent industrial growth for 1997

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Independent candidates see more democracy in Vietnam 

Japan Economic Newswire
07/19/97

Hanoi, July 19 -- At first look, Do Xuan Dang, a 30-year-old lawyer based
in Hanoi, and Tran Thanh Trai, a surgeon in Ho Chi Minh City, have little
in common.

Both men, however, are running in Sunday's general elections, joining
hands to challenge the political machine long dominated by the ruling
Communist Party of Vietnam.

But Dang and Trai are still a rare breed.

There are just 11 independents out of 663 candidates contesting the 450
seats in the National Assembly in an election that has been described
in official circles as a sign of improvement in Vietnamese democracy.

Dang and Trai agree.

To start with, there were only two independents in the 1992 National
Assembly election, and both lost.

The country's election law, passed in May this year, allows the candidates
to conduct election campaigns using state-run media for the first time.

"The sharp increase in the number of independent candidates means that
the common people understand more about their right to democracy, and
that they are wishing to have more democracy," Dang said in an interview.

Trai says whether he and the other 10 independents win in Sunday's poll
is irrelevant in terms of democratization.

"We don't need to wait until this election to see the improvement of
democracy in Vietnam," he says. "This is only another step in the process
of the improvement of democracy in the country."

A former major in the U.S.-backed South Vietnam regime that fought against
the communist North during the Vietnam war, Trai spent three years in
a "reeducation" camp after the fall of Saigon in 1975, and has been working
as a surgeon at Children Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City since 1978.

Senior National Assembly officials said independent candidates and other
nonparty members are "very warmly welcome" as they can bring with them
a broader collection of ideas from people of all walks of life.

"With my surgical knife and my current work at the People's Council,
I can help only thousands of people. But if I win the election, I will
be able to help millions of my compatriots and colleagues as I can make
their opinions heard at the National Assembly," said Trai, who holds
a seat in Ho Chi Minh City's local legislature, the People's Council.

Dang said he would try his best with his expertise as a lawyer to help
perfect the legal system in Vietnam so as to ensure a democratic life
for the people.

He says he decided to join the race because he was prompted by his wish
"to contribute to the building of democracy in Vietnam" along with his
sense of responsibility toward the country.

"If I win the election, I will accelerate the fight against corruption,
our inner enemy that undermines our society in various aspects," Dang
said.

For Trai, the election would be a chance for him to draw the attention
of the public and policy-makers to the deteriorating health care system
in Vietnam as the country's budget remains very limited.

"This is also a chance to measure my prestige among the people," the
surgeon said.

Trai became well-known both inside and outside the country after his
successful surgical operation to separate conjoined twins in Ho Chi Minh
City in 1988.

"It's I who will suffer most if I win the election because I will have
to devote about three months a year for the National Assembly work,"
Trai said.

He added that he may have to sacrifice his hobbies -- raising song birds,
singing karaoke and listening to romantic music -- if he is elected a
representative of the people.

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Hybrid Vietnamese Sect Marks Milestone Religion: Hanoi has lifted
government ban on Caodaism, an unusual blend of Eastern and Western beliefs.

Los Angeles Times
07/19/97

Hanoi -- In the world of conformist communist Vietnam, the once-banned
Caodai religious sect is a splash of color with a zeal for the garish.

Adherents commune with the spirits of historical figures, including Joan
of Arc, Victor Hugo, Vladimir Lenin and, for more lighthearted seances,
Charlie Chaplin. They look to the spirits of such people because of strong
personality traits that are models to others.

Secluded in southern Vietnam's Tay Ninh province, the group's main temple,
decked out in blues, yellows and reds, borrows from religions around
the globe in an effort to bridge the world of the living and the spirit
world.

Founded in the 1920s, Caodaism is a hybrid of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism,
Vietnamese spiritism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The result is
a jumbled code of ethics and tenets that has attracted more than 3 million
followers despite the Vietnamese government's control of religion.

In addition to calling on spirits, Caodai believers practice priestly
celibacy, vegetarianism and the worship of ancestors. The religion emphasizes
morality and frowns on material luxuries, lust and deceit.

It's a blend of East and West. Saints include modern China's patriarch
Sun Yat-Sen and Vietnam's first poet laureate, Nguyen Binh Khiem.

In June, Caodai devotees got a big boost when their religion received
official sanction from the government, legitimizing its existence in
the eyes of the communist leadership.

It had been a long struggle for a religious movement that raised an army
to fight against the communists during the Vietnam War. But today, the
government says Caodaism, established by French-educated Vietnamese mystic
Ngo Minh Chieu, fills a void for many people.

"We find the Caodai existence meets a legitimate spiritual demand of
the people here," said Muoi Thuong, a spokesman for the government's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tay Ninh.

"These people are religious followers, but they are also good citizens
and patriots," Thuong said in an interview from his office in Tay Ninh,
60 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

In 1975, when North Vietnamese troops overran U.S.-backed South Vietnam,
Caodaism was banned and the church's lands were confiscated. But behind
the scenes, the religion lived on. Today, Caodaism is practiced in about
half of Vietnam's provinces, Thuong said.

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Hanoi Ablaze with Red on Eve of Elections 

By Adrian Edwards

HANOI, July 19 (Reuter) - Vietnam's state propaganda machinery shifted
into top gear on Saturday as the communist-run country prepared to elect
approved candidates to a parliament with no opposition.

Almost overnight the capital, Hanoi, was ablaze with red flags, while
convoys of police motorbikes and trucks adorned with banners drove through
city streets urging people by loudhailer to take part in Sunday's nationwide
vote.

Early editions of one Sunday newspaper called for people to fulfil their
civic duties, and carried photos of Vietnam's spiritual leader, the late
president Ho Chi Minh, taking part in one of the National Assembly's
first elections.

"I see most of the candidates are young and highly educated," college
student Le Hai Anh, was quoted as saying by the Communist Party's Nhan
Dan daily.

"We should have many such people in the National Assembly to enter the
21st century," he said, adding that he would wear new clothes when he
voted, in honour of the occasion.

While defying comparison with most international norms, Sunday's election
will give Vietnam's 40 million eligible voters the chance to change the
faces in what is seen as a traditionally compliant assembly, but one
that has recently shown signs of acquiring its own political muscle.

In a surprise move last year the assembly turned down a cabinet nominee
for the post of Transport Minister.

More recently, deputies criticised prime ministerial plans for a new
$5.6 billion North-South expressway running down Vietnam's sparsely populated
mountain spine.

More than 660 people are standing for election to the 450-seat parliament,
in a poll where success or failure is measured not in terms of votes
for a candidate, but in terms of the number against them.

In a typical constituency five candidates might stand for three seats.
Those with the least votes against them win.

Political analysts say the immediate impact of the election will be small,
and pin hope on chances the new assembly might serve to reinvigorate
Vietnam's economic reform process, following a lengthy period of political
inertia.

"Normally the first session of the new Assembly is quite tense," said
a Ho Chi Minh City economist. "They have to appoint a new president,
prime minister and cabinet. Until those people find their feet in office
you may not see much happen."

The first session is expected to open on September 20. But local residents
in Hanoi expressed a range of views on Saturday about the polls, including
cynicism and patriotic enthusiasm.

A student told Reuters he wanted to see the assembly work on improving
the lives of the nation's young people and college-goers. An older interviewee
said his main concern was to see Vietnam emerging faster from poverty.

Full results of the election may not be known for several days.

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Vietnam targets 14.1 percent industrial growth for 1997

Hanoi, July 19 (AFP) - The ministry of industry has set a target of 14.1
percent growth in industrial output for 1997, a report said on Saturday.

According to the official Vietnam News Agency the government hopes turnover
in the industrial sector will reach six billion dollars, up 350 million
dollars from the first half.

The state sector accounts for about half of industrial production, and
state-owned enterprises provide the bulk of government revenues.

However, the first half saw a slowdown in industrial production by the
state sector to about 10 percent due to outmoded technologies and inefficient
management, the report said.

In contrast, foreign-invested enterprises saw industrial production increase
by 23 percent during the first half, helping boost overall industrial
output by 13.6 percent.

fb/cmc

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