VIETNAM'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECOND WORKING SESSION SETS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002031 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ETRD EINV ECON ENRG VM SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SECOND WORKING SESSION SETS AGENDA FOR NEW TERM REF: Hanoi 2011 HANOI 00002031 001.2 OF 002 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Vietnam's 12TH National Assembly (2007 - 2011) passed several laws -- including a long-awaited law on domestic violence prevention (reftel) and laws on judicial assistance and special amnesty -- during its 25-day working session which ended November ¶21. It also set an ambitious legislative agenda for the rest of its tenure, with a goal to pass 93 laws and ordinances. The session was marked by extensive media coverage of recently introduced question and answer sessions for Cabinet ministers where the new, younger assembly delegates were shown noting weaknesses and shortcomings in government programs and raising "concerns of common citizens." New laws and planned amendments to the Constitution are expected to decentralize more authority to local administrative units and further integrate Vietnam into the world community as a new member of WTO. Under Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, however, this National Assembly will not constitute a force for significant change, but will seek to expand its role in oversight and accountability in a measured way. The Party still dominates the process and sets the tune. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The GVN National Assembly's (NA) 12th Legislature (2007 - 2011) closed its second working session on November 21, 2007 in Hanoi. Over 25 days, the Assembly passed seven laws, including the long-awaited Law on Domestic Violence Prevention (Reftel) as well as the Law on Special Amnesty, Law on Judicial Assistance, Law on Personal Income Tax, Law on Product and Goods Quality, Law on Prevention and Control of Contagious Diseases, and the Law on Chemicals. AMBITIOUS LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The NA also set its legislative-making agenda for 2008 and more broadly for its 2007-2011 tenure. According to press reports, the NA plans to pass 93 laws and ordinances over the next four years and draft 35 more for consideration by the next NA session, in a bid to complete the legal framework for Vietnam's membership in the WTO. Its plan for 2008 alone includes passing 44 laws and drafting 10 others. At the session's closing ceremony, new NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong called on NA Deputies to report quickly on the results of the session to voters, make regular contact with voters, supervise the settlement of citizen's petitions and complaints, and encourage implementation of NA resolutions. ¶4. (SBU) Mission contacts tell us that this NA is likely to consider reforms which would result in reducing each provinces' control over budget outlays, sending spending rather to a larger number of lower-level jurisdictions. Local administrative units would then be expected to deal with their own budgets in terms of public investment and regional economic cooperation. The move to make provinces less important institutions, especially when it comes to implementation of national target programs, is designed to increase accountability. With smaller, better defined, jurisdictions under the gun, in theory it will be easier to spot situations in which local officials are failing to use the monies for the purposes intended. ¶5. (SBU) While the NA's role in formalizing change, such as the one mentioned above, and passing laws is important, the drafts and initiatives are still almost entirely the products of an executive, and ultimately CPV, led process. The role of the NA in promoting "transparency and a civil society" will remain key objectives, but at present these remain more rhetorical than actual. The long-stalled Law on Associations, which would give a more prominent role to NGOs, for example, is now in its twelfth draft. The bottom line is that the NA lacks authority, and staff personnel, to function as a generator of initiatives and DELEGATES PARROT GVN GOALS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On the economic front, the NA considered the 2007 and 2008 State budgets, as well as implementation of the GVN socio-economic plan for 2007 and 2008. Legislators "targeted" a GDP growth rate of 8.5 to 9 percent in 2008. The debated socio-economic plan for 2008 also calls for increasing competitiveness, developing infrastructure, improving living conditions and raising Vietnam off the list of low-income nations. NA delegates further committed Vietnam to: fulfill its commitments to international economic organizations, improve the quality of human resources, accelerate the application of science and technology advances, and tackle pressing socials issues - citing traffic congestion and accidents and environmental pollution - while maintaining political stability, HANOI 00002031 002.2 OF 002 national defense, security and social order. These "opinions and decisions" parallel GVN goals and objectives, with some small differences in nuance to underscore the "independence" of the NA. PUBLIC OPINION AN EMERGING FORCE IN VIETNAM? -------------- ¶7. (SBU) One area that had garnered attention over recent years is public coverage of question and answer sessions, with Cabinet Ministers standing for questioning from the legislators. As in 2006, these sessions were again broadcast on television and radio and reported widely across the country. At the October-November session, the Standing Deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Sinh Hung, and the Ministers of Education and Training, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, Health, Transportation and Interior were up for questioning. Queries from the delegates ranged from the quality of school textbooks and consumer inflation to the lag in road construction and the quality of healthcare. ¶8. (SBU) Some of our interlocutors maintain that, in part as a result of this sort of coverage of NA proceedings, public opinion is emerging as a stronger force in Vietnam, increasing pressure on public officials including Cabinet ministers to respond to public concerns. Certainly, a forum of potential significance has been created which could evolve into a more important channel for "the people" to express frustrations and grievances. EVOLVING ROLE OF THE NA AND THE PARTY -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The approximately 500 new NA delegates are a mix of full-time and part-time members. They are generally younger and, according to our contacts, more eager to learn and accept new ideas. They are also reportedly less tolerant of government misconduct, a "fact" called into question by the very high percentage of Party members (who where a distinctive flag pin to NA sessions). Indeed, some Mission contacts argue that new NA Chairman is, for tactical reasons, more supportive of the Prime Minister and his government than the last NA. ¶11. (SBU) Insiders explain that NA Chairman Trong is seen as a possible candidate to replace CPV Secretary Nong Duc Manh and therefore reluctant to make waves. Trong has also made a point of giving more authority to the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) as a way of centralizing control of the NA agenda and sidelining full-time delegates' former role in pre-session agenda shaping. Even our contacts in the Office of the National Assembly stop short of predicting significant changes in the role of the NA in actual governance until into the next decade. COMMENT -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Vietnam's NA is engaged in passing many new laws, and most of these are solid improvements over what came before. This is important, including to the future transition of Vietnam into something other than a one-party, authoritarian state. To a large extent, however, The themes coming out of this NA working session include a public call for greater accountability for government ministers, greater transparency and "democracy," and at least a public declaration by the NA Chairman of appreciation for voters' input as a "valuable contribution to the nation's renewal and development." It is not clear to what extent this is a response to significant international pressure in 2007 on Vietnam's human rights and democracy record or this summer's land rights protests and associated media attention. It is clear that, within the limits of Vietnam's political system, the NA is pushing the envelope in seeking a greater role in government oversight and accountability and shedding its old image as a rubber stamp Congress. MICHALAK