In Vietnam, a Back Road to Political Diversity
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2010 - Vietnam’s Communist Party has been trying to maintain one-party rule for several decades now.
But according to Bill Hayton, BBC reporter and author of the new book Vietnam: Rising Dragon (Yale University Press, 2010), the Party has come to realize that reforms that aren't part of its official agenda have been gaining steam, and thereby promoting democratic progress.
Speaking at a talk jointly hosted with George Washington University’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Hayton pointed to progress of unofficial reforms in the rule of law, promoting diversity of representation within the National Assembly, and active engagements with civil society and regulation of media, in all of which are areas that have achieved notable success.
Under the rule of law, debates continue over the separation of power versus specialization of power. Separately, diversity within the National Assembly is progressing through changes in political representation; this includes a stringent selection procedure to accommodate more candidates with no party affiliation. Increasingly, non-governmental organizations are being heard, while some factions of civil society have also capitalized on a fragmented system to lobby against government policies.
Finally, in the absence of a legal independent media in Vietnam, media players in the country have consistently tested and pushed beyond reporting and government boundaries to get the news out.
Hayton said he remains "broadly optimistic about Vietnam's future because of flexibility within the party," which has, after experiencing several crises, demonstrated its ability to weather the storm. Also, he believed there are able politicians within the ranks capable of drafting policies that will position the party strongly for a number of decades to come.
Reported by Melanie Yip