HANOI, Feb 11 (AFP) - A former top Vietnamese communist party official has joined a growing chorus of party critics urging political reform and democracy.
Hoang Huu Nhan, former party committee secretary in Haiphong, Vietnam's third largest city, told AFP on Thursday he had written to party secretary general Le Kha Phieu and other leaders saying "sooner or later there must be political reforms."
A copy of Nhan's letter, sent in December to Phieu, other members of the central committee politburo and obtained by AFP, described his desire to see "freedom and democracy."
Nhan's letter was prompted by his disapproval of the party's treatment of general Tran Do, a leading dissident and party stalwart, whose written attacks on the party caused his ouster from the party at the beginning of January.
"I know that I don't have enough power to defend Tran Do but this attempt will be assured by the people and by history," the letter said in advance of Do's explusion.
Speaking to AFP on Thursday from Haiphong, 79-year-old Nhan declined to comment on Do's expulsion, saying only "that he violated some party statutes by speaking to foreign press."
However his letter denounced Do's treatment in no uncertain terms, railing against a state run campaign last year to discredit Do in the press, which Nhan described as "calumnous, brutal and dictatorial."
"I do not agree with the leaders treatment of Tran Do," the letter said. Nhan said he has received no reaction from Vietnam's leaders, and does not fear any reprecussions.
The communist party receives thousands of letters from disgruntled citizens each year, but rarely does dissent hail from high ranking members such as Nhan and Do. Nhan was a deputy industry minister in the 1980s.
The communist party does not tolerate public dissent from the ranks, insisting that all its approximately 2.3 million members keep their criticism private. Do's expulsion resulted from his violation of this principle, Nhan said.
Do, a leading intellectual with more than five decades of experience as a revolutionary, began writing letters to Vietnamese leaders in late 1997 following an uprising in his native province of Thai Binh.
His letters were widely diffused in Vietnam and abroad via internet, especially his most recent attack in which he told the party it must "reform or die."
Do remains highly regarded by many party faithful, having risen among the ranks to eventually become the head of ideology for the commission of culture, literature and the arts. His expulsion could prompt supporters to renounce their membership, analysts say.
Human rights activitists have criticised Vietnam for its Administrative Detention law which allows authorities to detain people for up to two years without charge, and the absence of press freedom.