Party control: Electoral campaigning in Vietnam in the run-up to the May 2002 national assembly elections

Pacific Affairs

Volumn 78, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 57-75

  Gainsborough, Martin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMMUNICATION; ELECTION; NATIONAL POLITICS; PARTY POLITICS; STATE-LOCAL RELATIONS;

EID: 23644444482     PISSN: 0030851X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5509/200578157     Document Type: Article

References (38)

1. See R.H. Taylor, ed., The Politics of Elections in Southeast Asia (Washington: Woodrow Wilson, 1996).
2. For the small and relatively recent literature on elections in Vietnam see Carlyle Thayer, "Political Democratisation in Vietnam: Candidate Selection for the 9th National Assembly," paper presented to the "Development Prospects of East Asian Socialism: The Four Little Dragons or Eastern Europe? Transformation of Communist Systems Project," Contemporary China Centre, The Australian National University, 13-15 January 1993;
3. Carlyle Thayer, "Recent Political Developments: Constitutional Change and the 1992 Elections" in Carlyle Thayer and David Marr, eds., Vietnam and the Rule of Law (Canberra and the Australian National University, 1993);
4. Shaun Kingsley Malarney, "Culture, Virtue, and Political Transformation in Contemporary Northern Vietnam," Journal of Asian Studies 56 (November 1997), pp. 889-920;
5. David Koh, "Wards of Hanoi and State-Society Relations in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," doctoral dissertation, Australian National University, 2000. Not all of this literature deals with elections to the National Assembly. However, it is pertinent to the arguments pursued in this article.
6. For a good summary of this literature see Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet, "Rural Society and State Relations," in Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet and Doug J. Porter, eds., Vietnam's Rural Transformation (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995).
7. Little, if any, research has been done on this. However, one assumes that election to the National Assembly carries with it both strategic significance (i.e., a link to the centre) and wealth-generating benefits, as various interest groups court the support of parliamentarians.
8. For a discussion of one-party democracy see Martin Gainsborough, "Alternative Conceptions of Democracy: The Case of Vietnam," master's of science dissertation, University of London, 1995, pp. 26-32.
9. This comes across in relation to the candidate selection process where, although the provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front presides over the meetings, all decisions are cleared with the provincial election committee. The chairman of the provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front is usually a member of the election committee.
10. Tay Ninh, 30 April 2002.
11. Tay Ninh, 16 April 2002.
12. Tay Ninh, 19 March 2002.
13. Tay Ninh, 5 March 2002.
14. Lao Cai, 29 March 2002.
15. Lao Cai, 22 February 2002.
16. Hai Phong, 16 April 2002.
17. Lao Cai, 21 May 2002.
18. Lao Cai, 7 May 2002.
19. Tay Ninh, 18 April 2002.
20. Tay Ninh, 9 May 2002.
21. Tay Ninh, 9 May 2002.
22. Hai Phong, 3 May 2002.
23. Lao Cai, 7 May 2002.
24. Hai Phong, 4 May 2002.
25. Tay Ninh, 9 May 2002.
26. Hai Phong, 15 May 2002;
27. Tay Ninh, 18 April 2002.
28. It would be interesting to profile those who attempted but failed to make the candidate list. However, although we have some indication of the numbers involved and in some cases the names, we know little of the background of those who failed to make the candidate list. Details of those who did not make the list were not published in the press in any of the four provinces/municipalities surveyed by this author, suggesting such information may be regarded as sensitive. See appendix table 5 for what we do know.
29. We exclude the idea that the election results were fixed on the grounds that it is more common for states to try and ensure that the electorate choose who they want rather than resorting to cruder tactics such as stuffing ballot boxes or simply ignoring the result. See Taylor, Politics of Elections for background on this issue.
30. Voters in Hai Phong were described as generally having confidence in the prospective candidates. However, they drew attention to a number of problems with candidates such as irregularities involving land, house-building without permission, irregularities in state management, buying assets, bribery and other negativities (tieu cuc) (Hai Phong, 13 April 2002).
31. Voters were approached at work and asked their opinion of the candidates. Their comments led to the removal of four of the 165 candidates from the candidate list. See Hai Phong, 13 April 2002.
32. Can Tho, 19 March 2002.
33. This seems to be the implication of a candidate selection meeting in Tay Ninh, where the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, representatives of the People's Committee and the chairman or deputy chairman of the People's Council at the commune, ward and township level are listed as being in attendance, along with "voters at the candidates usual place of residence." See Tay Ninh, 21 March 2002.
34. I could only find one incidence of what might possibly be described as advantageous press coverage. This occurred in Lao Cai province, when the provincial paper ran a story in its last issue before the election featuring the minister of planning and investment, Vo Hung Phuc, who was also a candidate for the province in the election, working with Lao Cai provincial leaders. If you were trying to raise the profile of one particular candidate among the voters, highlighting his or her usefulness for the province, this might be one way you would go about it. See Lao Cai, 17 May 2002.
35. A Reuters journalist covering the 2002 election asserted that many of those voting "appeared to do so to avoid harassment by officials competing for the highest returns." The journalist also said that many votes were cast for entire families by a single family member. See Reuters, 25 May 2002.
36. In 1987, there were nearly 1.7 candidates for every seat. In 1981, the ratio was 1.2. See Thayer, Political Reform, pp. 120-121. This compares with a ratio ranging from 1.3 to 1.6 in the four provinces/ municipalities surveyed.
37. The incidence of candidates who are not party members being elected is much lower in these four provinces (one out of 33) compared with the country as a whole (approximately one in nine).
38. See Far Eastern Economic Review, May 9, 2002.