Vietnam's Pham Van Dong urges democratic reform
02:44 a.m. Aug 16, 1997 Eastern

HANOI, Aug 16 (Reuter) - Vietnam's senior adviser,
Pham Van Dong, has called for further and
wide-ranging reforms, including political reforms,
and warned that without them the communist country
risked falling into recession.

In an unusually outspoken commentary, carried in a
weekend edition of the Lao Dong newspaper, the
former prime minister said greater democracy was
the answer to a slew of difficulties now facing
Vietnam's decade old Doi Moi (renovation) process.

He said basic shortcomings had been exposed in
recent months in the economy and in the
government's managerial and executive apparatus.

But he said it was vital that Vietnam remained
committed to furthering its reform process if it
wanted to avoid a slide back into poverty.

``The country is faced with two big possibilities:
a faster and more sustainable advance to successful
achievement of the socio-economic plan to 2000...or
a slow down in growth, leading to recession and
further backwardness,'' he said.

``The above mentioned situation demands continuous
reforms. This is the crimson thread, the core in a
chain of the whole revolutionary evolution: in
politics, the economy, culture, society, security,
national defence and internal and external
affairs.''

Dong added that Hanoi should work to expand
democracy within its internal political system, and
from that allow democracy to spread to the broader
population.

``Effectively and efficiently expanding democracy,
bringing into play the mastership of the people in
the right place, at the right moment, for the right
deed, at the right level is the golden key to
overcoming the current difficulties,'' he said.

Pham Van Dong, whose official age is 91, is one of
the most respected figures in Vietnam and was a
close friend of the late president Ho Chi Minh.

His comments, written to mark the August 19
anniversary of Vietnam's 1945 communist uprising,
come at a critical time for Hanoi, which is
currently embroiled in the complex and arcane
process of selecting a new collective leadership.

President Le Duc Anh, 76, and Prime Minister Vo Van
Kiet, 74, are due to be replaced in September,
while Communist Party chief Do Muoi, 80, has
expressed an intention to retire soon.

The lengthy period of debate ahead of their planned
stepping-down has seen the emergence of
conservative groups who favour more cautious
reforms coupled with greater social and other
controls.

Vietnam is a single party state and Western
democratic ideals remain an anathema.