Background Briefs:

Vietnam: National Assembly

Holds 13th Session
Carlyle A. Thayer
May 22, 2012
The thirteen session of the National Assembly will convene this week. What do you
expect to come out of this session? What issues will top the agenda? What should
the deputies to regain public confidence after losing steam in the last session?
ANSWER: The current third session (13th legislature) of the National Assembly
mainly will reflect its normal legislative work program including a review of the state
budget for 2011, socio-economic development in 2011, as well as the adoption of
thirteen draft laws. The National Assembly will also begin preliminary consideration
of a further six draft laws. The major items on the agenda will be the Government's
master plan for economic restructuring and the Government's report on the
economy.
National Assembly deputies should take their responsibility to oversee the
Government's handling of the economy by critically reviewing all Government
reports and closely questioning the ministers concerned. National Assembly deputies
should focus on two main issues: amendments to the law on land and speeding up
the process of equitisation of state-owned enterprises.
National Assembly deputies should deal with the case of deputy Mrs. Dang Thi
Hoang Yen. In particular they should review current procedures so cases like this can
be handled expeditiously and transparently. If she wants to resign that would end
the matter. Why prolong her case? The decision by the National Assembly Standing
Committee not to accept her resignation on the grounds that deputies who have lost
the confidence of the people "shall be removed by the National Assembly" appears
an attempt to humiliate if not punish her.





Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: National Assembly Holds 13
th

Session, Thayer Consultancy Background Briefs, 2012.
Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123





Background Briefs:
Vietnam: Arrest Warrant for
Former Vinalines Chairman
Carlyle A. Thayer
May 22, 2012
[client name deleted]
We would like your appreciation of the arrest warrant issued for the former
chairman of Vinalines. What is the significance of this arrest and does it have any
bearing on the restructuring of the economy and the shakeup of state-owned
companies? Will Vietnam make more arrests?
ANSWER: The Vinalines case once again illustrates the problems of transparency,
oversight and control of state-owned enterprises (SOE) in Vietnam which give rise to
a culture of corruption. I expect more arrests to follow once police have interrogated
those already arrested. It takes a network of individuals to collude in
mismanagement and the misallocation of funds. Both the Vinashin and Vinalines
cases are a wakeup call that Vietnam must carry out major reforms of all state-
owned enterprises to put into place a rigorous mechanism of external review and
control of management practices and budgeting. Vietnam must also face up to the
fact that the management of state-owned enterprises are closely allied to the power
structure in Vietnam. Government authorities must ensure that there is no
favouritism or protection afforded to corrupt SOE managers.




Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Arrest Warrant for Former Vinalines
Chairman, Thayer Consultancy Background Briefs, 2012.
Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123





Background Briefs:
Vietnam: Policy and
Personality Differences
Emerge
Carlyle A. Thayer
May 22, 2012
In my many years as a student of Vietnamese politics I have never witnessed a better
effort to control information about the inner workings of the Vietnam Communist
Party than in recent years. Communist officials have succeeded in taming the foreign
press and few Hanoi-based correspondents dare to report on internal party politics
in the manner of their predecessors such as Murray Hiebert of the Far Eastern
Economic Review and Robert Templer of Agence France-Presse. The party has
tightened up control over its propaganda organs and restricted Vietnamese media
access to party conferences and meetings My general proposition about the control
of information about internal party decision making is borne out by coverage of
current discussions on amending the state Constitution and the campaign to deal
with corruption and party reform.
All Vietnamese media reporting on the outcome of the recent 5
th
plenary session of
the partys Central Committee were frustrating for their lack of detail. This signals to
me that there is intense in-fighting over both policy and personalities. Vietnam
should be reeling over major multi-billion dollar scandals involving its massive state-
owned enterprises, Vinashin and Vinalines. These two scandals get at the heart of
politics in Vietnam today because they involve the hidden network of political and
economic power. In other words, the Vinashin and Vinalines scandals do not involve
only the chairmen, directors and other company employees, but their political
sponsors. These conglomerates have been able to operate without transparency and
effective oversight. Last year Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung apologised before the
National Assembly over the Vinashin scandal.
It is clear that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungs free-wheeling style that
concentrated ever increasing power in the office of the prime minister has led to a
loss of power by the party and its organs to exercise effective supervision and
control. The Prime Ministers large network became both player and referee in
Vietnams economy. It should be recalled that Nguyen Tan Dung set up an Anti-
Corruption Steering Committee, which he headed, after he was first elected prime
minister.
The decision by the 5
th
plenum to create a new Anti-Corruption Central Steering
Committee would appear to be one of the first steps by the party to reassert itself in
exercising control over the government. If reports are correct, the prime minster will
Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123




2
be replaced as head of the new committee by the partys Secretary General Nguyen
Phu Trong. The executive arm of the new Steering Committee will be an Internal
Affairs Committee.
If current Vietnamese politics reflects policy and personality, this might explain the
travails of National Assembly deputy Mrs. Dang Thi Hoang Yen and the recent arrest
warrant for Duong Chi Dung, former head of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines
(Vinalines). Mrs. Dang Thi Hoang Yen is reportedly close to President Truong Tan
Sang. Her meteoric rise as a powerful private business entrepreneur was marked by
many public occasions in which she was photographed with President Sang. Deputy
Dang Thi Hoang Yens offer to resign from the National Assembly was rejected by its
Standing Committee on the grounds that deputies who have lost confidence of the
people can only be dismissed by the National Assembly. Dang Thi Hoang Yens
resignation would have ended the matter. Now she will be subject to a humiliating
vote in the National Assembly. Prime Minister Dung has responsibility for all central
state-owned conglomerates and enterprises. The arrest warrant for Duong Chi Dung
and other Vinalines officials may be viewed as undermining the Prime Ministers
power base in a similar manner in which executives in Vinashin were prosecuted.
Vietnams undercurrent of political in-fighting explains why there has been a notable
crackdown on Vietnamese bloggers and journalists since the eleventh party
congress. Officials charged with internal security, having emasculated an inquisitive
foreign media, have moved to silence the only other source of information on
Vietnamese domestic politics.
Major decisions must be made about reform and restructuring state-owned
enterprises, land ownership, and how to tackle endemic corruption. These decisions
will affect networks of power and patronage at all levels. If the cases of Dang Thi
Hoang Yen and Duong Chi Dung represent straws in the wind of internal party
divisions over policy and personality Vietnam is set to enter a period of political
turbulence. This situation will only be aggravated by a sluggish economy.


Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Policy and Personality Differences
Emerge, Thayer Consultancy Background Briefs, 2012.
BBC
Nhng gi ng sau vu Vinalines
Gio su Carl Thayer
Gi cho BBCVietnamese.com t c
Cp nht: 09:40 GMT - th tu, 23 thng 5, 2012

Du lun dang ch vo ng Duong Ch Dng v b ng Thj Hong Yn
Trong nhiu nm nghin cu chnh tr Vit Nam, ti cha bao gi chng in mt n lc im sot thng
tin v cc ng thi ni b ca ng Cng sn Vit Nam cht ch nh trong nhng nm gn
Gii chc cng sn d thnh cng trong vic lm nhut ch bo gii nuc ngoi Vit Nam, v t ai trong s
phng vin thung tr H Ni nay dm c gan tung thut v chnh trj ni b Vit Nam nhu nhng ngui di
truc, th du Murray Hiebert (Far Eastern Economic Review) v Robert Templer (AFP).
ng gia tng kim sot cc co quan tuyn truyn v hn ch truyn thng Vit Nam tip cn cc hi nghj v
hop hnh ca ng.
Nhn djnh ca ti v kim sot thng tin quanh cc quyt djnh ni b trong ng duoc dc kt ra t tung thut
cc tranh lun hin thi v vic sa di Hin php, cng nhu chin djch chng tham nhng v chnh dn ng.
Ton b cc tung thut ca bo gii Vit Nam v kt qu Hi nghj Trung uong 5 va ri du thiu vng chi tit.
iu ny, theo ti, ch du rng dang c mu thun ln trong ni b ng v c cc chnh sch v cc c nhn.
Mng li qun lc
Vit Nam hn dang bn lon v cc b bi nhiu t dla lin quan cc tp don khng l ca nh nuc l
Vinashin v Vinalines. Hai b bi ny c lin h truc tip ti trong tm chnh trj Vit Nam hin nay v chng dnh
lu ti mng lui ngm ca quyn luc v kinh t v chnh trj.
"R rng l phong cch lnh do ty hng ca Th tung Nguyn Tn Dng, vn khin cho quyn luc tp trung
ngy cng nhiu vo tay th tung, d khin ng v cc co quan ca ng bj gim quyn luc d c th gim
st v kim sot hiu qu. Mng lui su rng ca Th tung va l cu th va l trong ti trong nn kinh t
Vit Nam."
Ni cch khc, Vinashin v Vinalines khng ch dnh lu ti cc ch tjch, gim dc, nhn vin ca hai tp don,
m cc ng bu chnh trj dng sau ho.
Cc tp don ny d duoc tung honh m khng cn minh bch v thiu gim st c hiu qu. Nm ngoi, Th
tung Nguyn Tn Dng d phi xin li truc Quc hi v b bi Vinashin.
R rng l phong cch lnh do ty hng ca Th tung Nguyn Tn Dng, vn khin cho quyn luc tp trung
ngy cng nhiu vo tay th tung, d khin ng v cc co quan ca ng bj gim quyn luc d c th gim
st v kim sot hiu qu. Mng lui su rng ca Th tung va l cu th va l trong ti trong nn kinh t
Vit Nam.
Cn nh rng chnh ng Nguyn Tn Dng d thnh lp Ban Ch do Phng chng Tham nhng do ng dng
du, sau khi ng duoc bu lm Th tung nhim k du tin.
Ti Hi nghj Trung uong 5, quyt djnh thnh lp mt Ban Ch do Trung uong mi chng tham nhng c v l
mt trong cc buc du tin ca ng nhm ti lp kim sot vi chnh ph.
Nu cc tin tc l chnh xc, Th tung s thi chc trung ban v thay vo d l Tng B thu Nguyn Ph
Trong. Ban Ni chnh Trung uong s dng vai tr thung truc ca Ban Ch do mi.
Hai trng hp
Nu chnh trj Vit Nam hin thi phn nh c chnh sch ln c nhn, n c th gii thch con khn kh ca di
biu Quc hi ng Thj Hong Yn v lnh bt ng Duong Ch Dng, cuu lnh do Vinalines.
B Hong Yn duoc dn l thn cn vi Ch tjch nuc Truong Tn Sang. Su nghip kinh doanh ln nhu diu
gp gi ca b duoc dnh du bng nhiu ln xut hin truc cng chng vi cc bc hnh chup cng ng
Sang.

Mt s ngui xem vu diu tra ng Duong Ch Dng (tri) l nhm dn Th tung Nguyn Tn Dng (dng sau)
on xin t nhim ca b bj Thung vu Quc hi bc b vi l do cc di biu dnh mt lng tin nhn dn ch c
th bj Quc hi bi nhim. Nu b Yn t nhim, cu chuyn d kt thc. Nay b s phi di din cuc b phiu
gy h then ti Quc hi.
Th tung Dng, v phn mnh, th phi chju trch nhim di vi ton b cc tp don kinh t nh nuc. Lnh
bt ng Duong Ch Dng v cc quan chc khc ca Vinalines c th duoc xem l nhm gim bt phe cnh
ca Th tung, tuong tu nhu khi cc lnh do Vinashin bj truy t.
Cuc du tranh ni b ngm hin ti gii thch v sao dang c mt dot trn p dng k nhm vo cc blogger v
phng vin k t sau i hi ng X.
Gii chc an ninh, sau khi d thun phuc truyn thng nuc ngoi, quay sang bjt ming cc ngun thng tin
khc duy nht cn li ni v chnh trj ni b ca Vit Nam.
Chnh ph cn dua ra cc quyt djnh ln v ci cch, ti co cu doanh nghip nh nuc, s hu dt dai v
chng nn tham nhng. Cc quyt djnh ny s tc dng ti mng lui quyn luc v bo tro cc cp d.