Group 8406(*) Initiates Campaign To Boycott 2007 Single-party National Assembly Election and To Demand True Pluralistic System
Dear Fellow-Compatriots inland and overseas,
In 2007, the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) will organize a National Assembly election that is monopolized by the CPV itself.
We, the 8406 Group, currently consisting of 560 citizen advocating for democracy in Viet Nam, hereby declare:
Whereas,
1. Voting and running for positions in the National Assembly are the utmost important duties and rights of every citizen since these acts produce the representatives of the people at the “Institution with highest representation of the population, with highest governmental authorities … The only institution with the power of legislation and Constitution amending … exercising the highest power to monitor the entire operation of the government” (Article 83, 1992 Constitution of the SRV). However, Article 4 of the same Constitution affirmed: “The Communist Party of Viet Nam, the vanguard of the Vietnamese working class as well as loyal representative of the interests of the proletariat, the laborers, and the entire nation, under Marx-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought, is the force that directs the government and society.” Clearly, Article 4 and 83 contradict each other in the same Constitution.
2. In reality, from 1945 to 2002, for all eleven National Assembly elections organized by the Communist Party of Viet Nam the same practice of “Party selects, People vote” have been used, meaning people can only vote among the candidates selected by the Party. Therefore, once elected, these officials are not representatives of the people but rather representatives of the Party. They become shameful subordinates of the Party instead of honorable representatives of the people. Thus, the National Assembly of Vietnam has always been the instrument of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and never an independent legislative institution with “highest governmental authorities.”
3. Also in reality for the last 60 years, under Communist rule, voting has always been a forced activity on the Vietnamese people with various methods of intimidation and coercion, including forcing family members to vote on behalf of those absent. The punishment is especially harsh on those who refuse to vote out of conscientious objection or disgust at the fact that such noble duties and fundamental rights have been corrupted and abused by the Communist Party of Viet Nam to maintain and strengthen its dictatorial rule.
4. Article 4 of the Constitution and abovementioned practices in reality have rendered meaningless and ineffective Article 6 and 7 of the Constitution, “The people shall exercise their power of government through the National Assembly and the People’s Committees. These entities represent the will and aspiration of the People; are elected by the People and held responsible before the People…The election of the members to the National Assembly and People’s Committees shall be carried out under the principles of popular, equal, direct and confidential voting.”
5. The practice of National Assembly elections in Vietnam to this day has not delivered a just legal system, a genuine democracy, or any true freedom to the country. It has not produced those representatives who intend to carry out the will of the people; who are responsible only to the people; and who rely only on the power, the respect and the trust of the people to conduct their duties and to make laws. As a result, Vietnam is still filled with dishonesty, vices, injustice, abuse of power, corruption, backwardness, and the absence of all basic human rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the Press, freedom of voting and running for public offices, etc. The nation, therefore, cannot reach the height of development in human interests as compared to other civilized and democratic nations.
Therefore,
On the occasion of the visit to Viet Nam on May 23, 2006 of Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, a relentless fighter for human rights and peace around the world, an unwavering advocate for pluralistic political system as the most fundamental condition for peace and stability,
1. We call on the Communist Party of Viet Nam, for the sake of democracy and advancement of the country, to allow the current ceremonial National Assembly to eliminate Article 4 of the 1992 Constitution, the origin of all national shames and disasters.
2. We call on the government of Vietnam to hold the 2007 National Assembly election according to the principles of multi-party competition, freedom of candidacy and freedom of voting as in other civilized nations. This election also needs to be placed under international observation for fairness and transparency. In order to achieve such goals, the Government of Vietnam must issue right away the appropriate laws and decrees so that non-communist parties and independent candidates can participate in a fair election.
3. After the CPV’s 10th Congress in April 2006, there are no signs or even the right conditions for democracy and pluralism to materialize in Vietnam. There is no hope for a free and fair election — a break from the last 11 National Assembly elections. Therefore, we urgently initiate a campaign to call on our compatriots from all walks of life, who have been restless for democracy and national advancement, to take a courageous stand in boycotting the 2007 sham single-party election.
Human dignity and conscience as citizens no longer allow us to participate in such a deceitful and coerced activity. The boycott of this sham election is the most fundamental and effective way to bring about the necessary pressure for a free and fair multi-party National Assembly election in Viet Nam, to end the onerous dictatorial and totalitarian yoke of the Communist Party of Viet Nam on our nation, to open a bright future for Vietnam among the international democratic community.
4. We call on Party members and individuals who will be chosen by the Communist Party of Viet Nam as candidates for the 2007 sham election to refuse these offers on the basis of your conscience and honor. Being elected in such manner and becoming submissive apparatus of the Communist Party of Vietnam could only help extend the shame and suffering our people have endured in the last 60 years, and lead the country away from any hope for a brighter future.
5. We earnestly appeal to Vietnamese compatriots overseas, international human rights organizations, parliaments and governments around the world, especially the United Nations, to intervene on behalf of the people of Vietnam with all appropriate resources to effectively induce a free and democratic election with multiple parties as defined by international standards.
We sincerely thank all of our compatriots and people of good will around the world.
Written in Vietnam, on May 23, 2006
By the Provisional Representatives of the 8406 Group
Hoang Minh Chinh, Hanoi
Tran Anh Kim, Thai Binh
Do Nam Hai, Saigon
Nguyen Van Ly, Hue
* Group 8406: The signatories to the 2006 Manifesto of Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, announced on the 8th of April, 2006.
Translated by Vietnam Reform Party
