ANOTHER LETTER FROM TRAN DO (I)
Last week, Mr. Tran Do, a Communist lieutenant general (retired) and a famous dissident, announced another open letter to the public, under the title "Democratization, A Strategy to Fight Corruption." The letter in Vietnamese, has been published in most newspapers circulating in the Vietnamese émigrés community abroad.
Many times Mr. Tran Do had openly published his writings in which he criticized the Vietnam Communist Party leaders and their policies and called for true democracy, pluralist politics in Vietnam. He has been put under close political security watch after ousted from the VCP.
His voice is well listened by the average Vietnamese in Vietnam, particularly the former Communist Party members. Interesting sections of the long letter are roughly translated by Viet Quoc as the following. Though he is not definitely against Communism, his opinions are worth listening.
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DEMOCRATIZATION, A STRATEGY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION
By Tran Do
I. WHAT IS CORRUPTION
1. Corruption is not only a social evil but actually becomes the enemy of all walks of life, of all the people and the nation.
There have been many accusations, appeals, resolutions, decisions, directives, and even organizations and movements against corruption, as well as punishments including capital sentences that draw favorable reactions from inside and outside.
But nowadays, public opinion seems to be tired of talking about corruption, as there is no sign indicating that it has been checked. The problem is dealt with by such a measure that imposes punishment on the convicted and also punishes and intimidate the denunciators.
2. Corruption (tham nhung) is loathsome and offending because it includes both "tham" and "nhung." (greediness and harassment).
Greediness breeds thieves and robbers, particularly daylight robbers (Vietnamese saying: Night robbers are thieves, daylight robbers are mandarins). Meanwhile, harassment widely affects the people's daily life: such as bothering, obstructing, fraud, deception, persecution by authorities with some power. Every service done to citizens requires bribes according to an unwritten price list.
Our regime is excellent in the social issues such as public education and health care, but in these very two areas, people are tormented to the most extent. The poor suffer the most from intimidation and torture. On the other hand, officials and agencies in charge of law enforcement are those who deliberately commit illegal actions.
II. WHY CORRUPTION EXISTS AND IS DIFFICULT TO BE ELIMINATED?
Some (Communist) theorists assert the following causes of corruption:
- A number of depraved party members and cadres.
- Undermining plots by the enemy in its "peaceful evolution" conspiracy.
- Uncontrollable side-effects of the free market economy.
- Low salaries of public servants and cadres.
But facts of life clearly prove that they are not correct. The main roots of corruption lie deeper. One of them is the abuse of power: only those who is vested with power could commit corruption. And the abuse of power originally emanates from the regime which creates conditions and circumstances to help some people attain power and use their power freely.
Such regime has no checking and supervising institutions, and is the offspring of a political system and its operation. In this system, a party seizes an absolute and total leadership which is also radical and monopolistic. All government and social organizations are supported by national budget and are the tools of the party to submit to the party and carry out every idea of the party. All are under the label "of the people."
In short, it is a non-democratic, even anti-democratic regime that does not allow its people any right to check and control the authorities. The citizens could only petition and they are granted favors by the authorities.
Art. 2 of the 1992 Constitution asserts that "the government is of the people, from the people, for the people, all the state power belongs to the people..." But there is no institution to ensure the people's rights to exercise such power. On the contrary, Art. 4 of the constitution confirms that "the Vietnam Communist Party is the leading force of the state and society..." So the party is above the state and the people, a principle the most anti-democratic.
III. THE ROLE OF THE VCP
For two-thirds of the last century, history has determined the important role of the VCP in fighting the two wars leading to total victories, independence and unification. But the party's glory and victory have been paid for by the very high price, that are the hardship and the death of tens of thousand party members, the misfortune of millions of families and the painful consequences are still found all over the country. These include consequences made by mistakes and failures of the party (to be mentioned below).
But the party has praised itself and eulogized its triumph too highly, too much and too long time. These actions also cover up another apparent truth that is the party has made not a few mistakes and serious failures, but its victories were so great that such mistakes and failures were hidden and forgotten. And the party has been reasoning that from every failure, it has attained a success by learning a good lesson of experiences to go forward.
In fact, there have been the Party's mistakes that brought perils to the entire nation, destructive fate to tens of thousands of families and millions of people. They are fiascoes of the Nghe Tinh Soviet (1930), the Cochinchina Uprising (1940), the Land Reform (1955-56), the socialist reforms. They are also errors made at the 4th Party National Congress after the 1975 victory that led all people to miseries.
The party always acts as if "there have never been mistakes," and every trivial action to redress a mistake is said to be by "the Party's lofty humanitarian and merciful spirit" granted to the victims.
The Party always tries to prove that it achieve only victories, never being defeated, never committing errors, so the Party are systematically concealing its shortcomings and mistakes. In criticism and self-criticism, the Party creates a habit of "all talk and no action." The habit has become the main trait and the nature of the Party and so people don't trust the Party anymore.
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(To be continued next week)