After the Letter by 11 Elder Cadres naming Pham The Duyet, a current member of the all-powerful Politburo, as one of the most corrupted officials, many other citizens, particulary in Hanoi, have followed with letters to the VCP and the Government pointing out other cases of corruption.
Following is the letter by Mr. Vu Minh Ngoc, one of the most credible and popular letters circulating in the underground press in Vietnam.
Hanoi, July 28, 1998
Respectfully sent to:
Comrade Nong Duc Manh, Chairman of the VIII National Assembly
Also respectfully sent to:
Comrade Le Kha Phieu, Secretary General of the VIII Party Central Committee
I am Vu Minh Ngoc, a citizen and Party member living at house A-1, Room 49, Community Residence Complex Nam Dong, district Dong Da, Hanoi. My father is Vu Dang Chuyen. Our family has been a base for the Revolutionary (for a long time). In 1946, Chairman Ho Chi Minh honored our family with the certificate " Full Revolutionary Family" because all ten of the children, including me, joined the underground resistance force before the August 1945 Revolution.
At the 213th meeting of the 10th National Assembly, a step was taken to regain people's trust of their National Assembly's operations. That was the fact that the Presidium allowed a live report of the Representatives' questioning of the Administration. This is an unprecedented phenomenon. We, the voters, believe comrade Chairman of the National Assembly had a great part in bringing about such change. We hope this practice will also apply to future meetings.
To ensure the role of the National Assembly as the true leading organ with the highest power that can defend the interests of the people, we propose the following:
1. From now on, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly should have someone check the result of the voters' meetings before and after the National Assembly sessions to truly reflect the spirit of "People know - People discuss - People implement - People inspect". For a long time, this motto has been just a cliché. The voters' meetings, from local to central levels, are all very pretentious and mainly for propaganda purposes only. For example:
Coming to the "voters' meetings" are not Representatives that have been nominated and elected by the people. At any levels, Representatives are assigned by the Party, the (Fatherland) Front, and the Government to attend. In 1997, during the preparation of the 10th National Assembly election at the community residence complex Nam Dong, there was a gathering of voters to hear an "independent" candidate announcing his candidacy. I attended as a reporter and as an invited guest of the candidate's family. However, comrade chairman of the (Fatherland) Front of district Nam Dong, Nguyen Xuan Ung, signaled a Public Security captain and another member of the campaigning committee to ask me to leave. The reason given was because the meeting is limited to a small circle. When I met the "independent candidate" the next day, I found out the real reason for my exclusion. It was because in that meeting, the Front Chairman convinced the "independent candidate" to voluntarily withdraw.
Alas, while the campaigning committee announced that all citizens have the right to run for office independently, the Chairman of the district Fatherland Front campaigned the independent candidates to voluntarily withdraw. Article 5 of the National Assembly Election Code in the chapter on the Proceeding and Procedure to carry out conferences of voters states: "(Article 5-2) Attendants at the voters conferences include those voters that are willing to run (for offices) and representatives of local governmental offices and (state-sponsored) organizations." However, Chairman of district Fatherland Front matter-of-factly invites these aspired voters to go home so he can carry out the less-than-holy agenda. Such is by no means a single incident. There are thousands, even tens of thousands, of similar meetings where Chairmen of Fatherland Front of all levels simply carry out their orders under the same baton that runs all elections from local to central levels. Is that baton the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam? We hope comrade Chairman will clarify that for us all. And if that is not true, then we ask you, comrade, to have your Office issue official instructions on how to reorganize the voters meetings to end the discrepancies between our talk and deeds. People trust us based on deeds, not on cliché.
2. Since the Representatives at voters meetings have not been popularly elected, people's concerns are never conveyed to higher authorities. I, therefore, suggest that you allow voters like us pose questions (directly) to government officials and members of the National Assembly. Retired citizens like us are not bound to any ambition for power or positions. We have only one obligation which is our "never ending duties to the People and the Party".
3. A number of bills that are critical to the survival of the nation such as the Anti-Corruption Laws, the Complaints and Whistleblower Laws, etc. continue to be argued over endlessly. Unless for genuine prudence, the Presidium and comrade Chairman of the National Assembly should find out whether those Representatives that have loudly delayed the passing of these laws have other agendas. They might want to delay the laws just to buy more time to finish up current racketeering and to wipe off evidence. If you, comrade Chairman of the National Assembly and the Secretary General of the Party Central Committee, ever wish to know the names of these Representatives in the National Assembly, I will provide the list.
4. After each term of the National Assembly, each Representative must review his/her own performance, the area of responsibilities, and most of all, those Administration officials he/she monitors. (He/she must report) whether these officials really are people's servants or someones that abuse power to fill up their pockets and quietly get away. If the current condition continues, all Party and Government's policies would mean nothing. Despite our screaming of the slogan "Eradicate hunger and reduce poverty" ten thousands times, our people continue to be hungry and poor.
5. The population applauded when the comrades in the Politburo practiced criticism and self-criticism (on themselves) and soon that policy will reach local offices. That is a cultural and ideological revolution which is very timely and brilliant under the Party's leadership. The masses must join in wholeheartedly to grasp this opportunity to sweep away all the trash that is contaminating society and drag our people through a slow death. The National Assembly will play a big part in this revolution because it has both the laws-forming power and the authorities to monitor the implementation of those laws. We must, through these sessions of criticism and self-criticism, expose those members of the National Assembly, the Fatherland Front, and the Government that did not fulfill their tasks. We can no longer allow the opportunists to continue abusing power to benefit (themselves) and manipulate (society).
From the criticism and self-criticism sessions, once the masses have pointed out those individuals that abused power to benefit themselves, to silent critic, and to harass citizens, the Party and the National Assembly must take action to firmly prosecute the wrongdoers. This is what people in our neighboring countries already did.
With full understanding of the responsibility of a citizen and a Party member while writing this deeply sincere letter, I suggest the Party and the National Assembly look into the records of the following officials:
* Tran Hoan, former Minister of Culture, and current Deputy Head of the Central Committee's Bureau on Culture and Ideology.
* Dao Duy Quat, former Deputy Director of the Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought Institute, and current Deputy Head of the Central Committee's Bureau on Culture and Ideology.
* Dong Sy Nguyen, former Minister of Transportation and current Government's special commissioner for state inspection in central Vietnam.
* Ha Quan Du, former Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth League and current Head of the General Office of Vietnam Sports.
* Pham The Duyet, former Party Chief of Hanoi and current Head of the Central Committee's Bureau on Masses Mobilization and Member of the Politburo.
* Truong My Hoa, former Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Women Alliance and current Vice-Chair of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
* Nguyen Thi Hang, Minister of War Invalid and Social Welfare.
At any time you are interested in finding out the crimes committed by the listed individuals, I am ready to meet with you and provide all the supporting evidence.
Respectfully bidding you, comrade Secretary General of the VIII Vietnamese Communist Party Central Committee, and comrade Nong Duc Manh, the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, goodbye with trust and affection.
(Signed)
Vu Minh Ngoc
House A.1, Room 49, Community Complex Nam Dong, Hanoi
Phone: 8.572.497