Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (Vietnamese: "Đại hội đại biểu toàn quốc lần thứ X", 10th National Congress of Delegates) was the tenth party congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the sole legal party of Vietnam; it occurred between April 18 and April 25, 2006, in Ba Ðình Hall, Hanoi. The party congress occurs once every five years. A total of 1,176 delegates representing 3 million party members attended the opening ceremony. The Congress elected a new Central Committee with 160 members and a Politburo of 14 members.

The incumbent General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh was elected to a second term. Phan Văn Khải and Trần Đức Lương, the Prime Minister and President, respectively, retired from their current positions. The Congress is notable for having generated considerable interest in Vietnam and occurs during a time when the government of Vietnam is caught in a major political corruption scandal.

Events leading to the Congress

On March 2, 2006, the leadership of the Communist party officially requested the Vietnamese people to comment on the Preliminary Party Report. Within one month, the Central Office of the Communist Party received more than 1,400 letters commenting on the report. Moreover, many people sent their comments to the media. Many newspapers opened discussion forums and published comments from intellectuals. Issues under consideration include calls for changing Article 4 of the Constitution, which gives the Communist Party a monopoly on power, and allowing party members to participate in capitalism.

At the same time, the PMU 18 corruption scandal involving high-ranking officials was gripping Vietnam. The Minister of Transport had to resign and his deputy was arrested in a multimillion dollar gambling scandal. His resignation was mainly due to loud criticism from the media, which extensively covered the scandal (a rarity in the one-party state). Three people involved with the scandal (the aforementioned two and another) were removed from the list of delegates and General Võ Nguyên Giáp publicly called on the Party to address this issue in the national congress.

Events during the Congress

Except for the opening and closing ceremonies, the Congress was closed to the public and the media. For the first time, the 1,176 delegates was allowed to recommend candidates for the post of General Secretary. [cite news | last = McCool | first = Grant | url = http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-04-18T025808Z_01_HO810247_RTRUKOC_0_US-VIETNAM.xml | title = Vietnam opens Congress to choose new leaders | date = 2006-04-17 | publisher = Reuters ] As expected, President Trần Đức Lương and Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải did not appear in the list of Politburo members. Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, then the Deputy Prime Minister, was rumored to become the next Prime Minister while Nguyễn Minh Triết, the then City Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Communist Party, was rumored to become the next President. These appointments were approved by the National Assembly in June 2006.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4941144.stm Vietnam re-appoints senior leader]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4917466.stm Vietnam Communists meet in crisis]
* [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002934598_vietnam17.html Vietnam's Communists to pick new leaders]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4766846.stm Communist debate grips Vietnam]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4874600.stm Vietnamese ministry hit by scandal]