Minh Tuan
In 1984, I went to Bac Thai province to attend the provincial Fatherland Front Conference to collect news and write articles for Dai Doan Ket newspaper (at that time, I had only been a reporter for Dai Doan Ket for 1 year).
Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nong Duc Manh also attended the Front Conference.
I was very surprised to see the Chairman of Bac Thai province so young, wearing a white shirt, with a bright, handsome face, sitting in the chair of the Presidium. At that time, Chairman of the Province Nong Duc Manh had just turned 44 years old, perhaps the youngest Provincial Chairman in Vietnam at that time. (But in the US, US President Bill Clinton became President of the US when he was only 46 years old. If Vietnam had had more daring reforms, Comrade Nong Duc Manh could have become General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the age of 44, instead of having to wait 17 years, until in 2001, for Comrade Manh to become General Secretary.)
Then two years later, in 1986, when the 6th Party Congress on Doi Moi was held, Comrade Manh became Secretary of the Bac Thai Provincial Party Committee.
A few years later, he went to the National Assembly, entered the Politburo in 1991, and then became Chairman of the National Assembly in 1992.
Comrade Nong Duc Manh served as Chairman of the National Assembly for 2 terms, until 2001, when he was elected General Secretary by the 9th Party Congress, replacing Comrade Le Kha Phieu.
General Secretary Le Kha Phieu is similar to current General Secretary To Lam, in that he was elected General Secretary at the Party Central Committee Conference of the 8th Party Congress (held twice a year), not at the 8th Party Congress-held 1 time in 5 years.
When Comrade Nong Duc Manh was Chairman of the National Assembly, he was very much loved by the common people. I still remember that on the occasions of National Assembly meetings, people who filed complaints, sueing often gathered in large numbers outside the Ba Dinh Hall, right in front of the gate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to submit their complaints to the National Assembly Delegates, or to the Party and State leaders who were leaders of the people, by the people, for the people, passing by and going back and forth into the National Assembly meeting building. Because the National Assembly meeting is the only occasion for the “people- masters” to meet the “leaders -servants of the people”.
But no any “leaders -servants of the people” to stop to receive people’s complaint letters.
However, only Chairman of the National Assembly, Nong Duc Manh, stopped his car, got out of the car to receive the people’s petitions, and greeted them kindly and politely.
No other “leader’s servant” did the same.
The petitions that National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh received were often handled quite carefully according to the authority and regulations of the State, and were forwarded to the competent authorities, requesting a serious resolution and response.
Many people, when coming to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to present their complaints, often told stories about how they were warmly welcomed by National Assembly Chairman Nong Duc Manh.
When Mr. Phan Van Khai became Prime Minister in 1997, his house in Hanoi often had many Southern people coming to Hanoi to complain, gathering outside his villa in large numbers. Many Southern people often thought that with a Prime Minister from the South, it would be easy to meet him. However, this “servant” Phan Van Khai never met the “boss”, Mr. Khai even sent guards to chase them away, and complained to other leaders that “the people were making so much noise that he couldn’t sleep”.
What about the people who go to file complaints, from the South to the North, sleeping under the open sky, can the people sleep?
During the 10 years that Comrade Nong Duc Manh was Chairman of the National Assembly, the democratic atmosphere in the National Assembly was gradually expanded. At first, journalists were only allowed to attend the opening and closing sessions of the National Assembly.
After that, journalists were allowed to attend all public meetings at the National Assembly Hall, but were not allowed to attend small-scale group meetings of local groups, for example the National Assembly group in Hanoi, the National Assembly group in Saigon, the National Assembly group in Da Nang, and meetings of the National Assembly Committees, for example the Law Committee, the Economic Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, etc.
But then, gradually, Chairman Nong Duc Manh allowed journalists to attend all the above-mentioned group meetings and committee meetings of the National Assembly.
Thus, the Vietnamese National Assembly no longer has any closed sessions, except for the preparatory meeting day, before the official opening of the National Assembly session.
But compared to the 1st National Assembly in 1946 of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, it is still not very good, because the first Constitution, in 1946 of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, clearly stated in Article 15 that the National Assembly meets publicly, all citizens are allowed to enter and listen.
The Constitutions of all other democratic and free countries in the world have this provision, that when the National Assembly meets, all citizens must register their names, present their ID cards, and be allowed to enter and listen, but not speak.
Hopefully, the current General Secretary To Lam will allow this to be implemented in the near future, from 2026.
The time for public questioning in the Hall of National Assembly Deputies when Comrade Manh is the Chairman of the National Assembly is also gradually getting longer, and opinions are also gradually becoming more straightforward.
I have attended the National Assembly sessions for 15 consecutive years, as a journalist serving to write news about the National Assembly, so I understand very clearly, very specifically, very in detail about the gradual openness of the National Assembly under the direction of comrade Nong Duc Manh.
(I still remember in 1998, during a National Assembly session, I met Mr. Huy Duc, a reporter for Tuoi Tre newspaper, from Saigon, attending the National Assembly session was also to serve the National Assembly, to get news to write for Tuoi Tre newspaper. But this Huy Duc usually did not attend all the National Assembly meetings, but only took the opportunity to meet privately with some familiar leaders to get news.
That is the way some journalists work, they often create close personal relationships with some leaders to get some secret information, or to do some business for personal gain, which I do not like.
That way of working is very different from the way some journalists in Hanoi work, they do not want to be too close to the leaders, both for honor – “vin vay rong-flattering dragon”” is not honorable – and it may not be beneficial to the objectivity of the press. At that time, Huy Duc said he went to meet Mr. Thai Nguyen, Deputy Director of the Government Office. We shook our heads in admiration, because we saw that he had many special relationships. A few days later, while the National Assembly was in session, Mr. Thai Nguyen was arrested for his involvement in the scandal in the General Department of Military Intelligence – General Department 2. I wonder if Mr. Huy Duc got much information from his relationship with Mr. Thai Nguyen.
Later, in 2006, the PMU 18 case occurred, a corruption case involving in ripping off money from Japanese ODA capital that funded Vietnam to build infrastructure projects. General Cao Ngoc Oanh, Director General of the General Department of Police, was implicated and was disciplined. However, Mr. Huy Duc was from the same hometown as General Oanh in Quang Binh, and perhaps had some kind of close relationship with General Oanh, so Mr. Huy Duc wrote articles on social networks, cursing those who investigated the PMU18 case, defending the corrupt General Oanh.)
In April 2001, Comrade Nong Duc Manh became General Secretary, at that time, I had resigned from the Dai Doan Ket newspaper and moved to Japan to settle down due to family matters. But I continued to follow the situation in Vietnam
When Comrade Nong Duc Manh became General Secretary, the first thing he did was to request an end to the Advisory system of Communist Party leaders.
At that time, in the 1990s, there was a bad precedent in the Vietnamese Communist Party, which was that when party top leaders retired, they still clung to some power, and still held the position of Advisor to the party. In 1997, when the Central Party Conference elected Comrade Le Kha Phieu as General Secretary, the three former General Secretarys Do Muoi, former President Le Duc Anh, and former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet were still Advisors to the party, trying to cling to some power, hindering the smooth leadership of the Central Party.
In 2001, when Comrade Nong Duc Manh became General Secretary, he boldly and decisively invited the three Advisors, Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh, and Vo Van Kiet, to retire completely and not advise on anything.
This is an unprecedented boldness in the Vietnamese Communist Party.
The “Supreme Emperor” regime dates back to the Tran Dynasty, in 1200-1300 when the father king retired and let his young son become king, and the father king became the Supreme Emperor, to help his son, and to educate him on how to be a king.
Nowadays, General Secretary Nong Duc Manh became General Secretary when he was almost 60 years old, no longer a child, so he did not need the Supreme Emperor, did not need 3 advisors to teach him how to be a General Secretary.
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh has eliminated a bit of that feudal nature of our Party. Many other feudal characteristics of our Party have not been eliminated yet.
After that, people saw that dissident Hoang Minh Chinh was allowed to go to the US for medical treatment.
This is also an unprecedented openness in the Vietnamese Communist Party.
Unfortunately, that openness was not recognized by some dissidents, but continued to criticize the Vietnamese Communist Party in an extreme way, wanting to please some extremist movements overseas, thus creating conditions for some conservative opinions within the party to prevail, demanding a narrowing of democracy.
However, the democratic trend under the leadership of General Secretary Nong Duc Manh continued to expand.
Everyone was allowed to open blogs, critical opinions were more free, and if they did not call for the overthrow of the regime and the party, the security agencies would hardly touch them.
Even the newspaper names Vietnamnet, which had strong opposing opinions never seen before, was left alone in many cases.
The security agencies are now not allowed to make indiscriminate arrests as before. All detentions and interrogations are limited to 24 hours. Beyond that time, there must be approval from the Procuracy, and a report must be made to a higher level.
However, as people say, “the king’s law is weaker than the village’s custom”, the openness from the Central Government is often distorted by the lower levels, and in a chaotic regime like today, it is very difficult for the Central Government to control the lower levels.
The household registration management system under Comrade Nong Duc Manh was also slightly more open than before. The economy continued to develop in a difficult way following the old innovation direction.
It can be said that in terms of economic development, Comrade Nong Duc Manh was not a very outstanding person. Of course, our country Vietnam has a Prime Minister, who is primarily responsible for economic development – at that time, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
Prime Minister Khai was not very good at economics either.
There were some confusing things that happened during the time Comrade Nong Duc Manh was General Secretary.
Allowing China to exploit aluminum in the Central Highlands is the biggest mystery. General Vo Nguyen Giap, former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh, and many other revolutionary veterans, along with a large number of intellectuals and people, all opposed this project, but the Politburo did not allow any changes.
The second thing, in the PMU18 case, did not allow the police to continue, but on the contrary, arrested two journalists, and prosecuted Major General Pham Xuan Quac, who directed the investigation of the PMU18 case, along with a police subordinate, for a ridiculous reason: providing information to journalists, revealing work secrets,,,.
The third thing, when Comrade Nong Duc Manh became General Secretary, people hoped that he would discuss again the renaming of the Party, renaming the country, and combining the positions of General Secretary and President into one, to increase the power of the head of State, and reduce the overlapping bureaucracy. When comrade Le Kha Phieu was General Secretary, in just over 3 years, from 1997 to 2001, comrade Le Kha Phieu did many things that left a stronger impression than comrade Nong Duc Manh’s 10 years as General Secretary. After only being General Secretary for more than half of his term, comrade Le Kha Phieu dared to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister Ngo Xuan Loc, because of his involvement in the scandal of Thang Long Aquarium in Hanoi. Comrade Le Kha Phieu also dared to arrest the former secretary, right-hand man of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Nguyen Thai Nguyen, Deputy Head of the Government Office, and arrested a series of employees of General Department 2.
If comrade Le Kha Phieu were still General Secretary, the General Department 2 case would certainly have continued to be resolved thoroughly, and not been left to fester until now, causing the petitions and complaints about General Department 2 to continue to linger until now. During the more than 3 years of comrade Le Kha Phieu as General Secretary, he also dared to discuss within the Party about changing the Party’s name, back to the Labor Party, which Uncle Ho had named in 1952, and changing the country’s name, back to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which Uncle Ho had named in 1945 when he read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and discussed merging the two positions of General Secretary and President into one.
During the 10 years of comrade Nong Duc Manh as General Secretary, he did not dare to discuss again these 3 important issues, which are meant to pave the way for more profound innovation within the Party.
This also partly reflects the personality of comrade Nong Duc Manh. He is a gentle, kind person, but sometimes lacks courage and sharpness. During the time he was a Politburo member and Chairman of the National Assembly, I heard that during Politburo meetings, he mostly just sat still and did not say anything, partly because he was afraid of responsibility and partly because he did not know what to say.
But it was also fortunate for Comrade Manh, because thanks to his gentleness and non-partisanship, he was chosen to be General Secretary at the 9th Congress in 2001, when General Secretary Le Kha Phieu was beaten up by three advisors Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh, and Vo Van Kiet.
The reason for the beating was because Comrade Le Kha Phieu dared to establish Team A10 to cross-check information from General Department 2 and the Ministry of Public Security, and to monitor the accounts and assets of some leaders.
The monitoring of accounts and assets of some leaders was what people feared the most, so Comrade Le Kha Phieu was beaten up. The fact that General Secretary Le Kha Phieu dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Ngo Xuan Loc, because he was involved in the corruption case of the West Lake Hanoi water park project called the Thang Long Aquarium Water Park – which I, Minh Tuan, wrote an investigative report to expose, and was awarded the second prize by the Vietnam Journalists Association for the series of investigative reports on the Thang Long Aquarium case at the end of 1999 – also made many Central Committee members afraid, so many Central Committee members also joined the 3 Advisors to remove comrade Le Kha Phieu from the position of General Secretary.
Thanks to that, comrade Nong Duc Manh was gentle and did not benefit from any faction.
Vietnam often says that we have political stability, the people absolutely support the party, wherever you go you hear people saying “thank you to the party, thank you to the state, thank you to the government, thank you to the leadership,,,”.
Look at the example of Ceausescu, General Secretary of Romania. In November 1989, 71-year-old Ceausescu was re-elected General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party with an absolute majority of votes. The Romanian people always praised “thanks to the Party, thanks to the Government, thanks to the State, thanks to General Secretary Ceausescu,,,”. But just over a month later, on December 22, 1989, he and his wife had to flee, and on December 25, they were executed by the Romanian people.
Look at the example of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the Iraqi people voted 100% in favor of Saddam, but just over a month later, when the US army entered Iraq in 2003, it was those Iraqi people who “thanks to the President, thanks to Saddam” who showed the way for the US army to capture Saddam alive, and then, put him on the gallows.
Comrade General Secretary To Lam is leading the entire Party and people to carry out the second Doi Moi, administrative reform, and streamlining of the apparatus. We hope that Comrade To Lam will receive support from Comrade Nong Duc Manh, so that the Doi Moi process of General Secretary To Lam can be carried out with a great success.///