VIETNAM IN 2000 Toward the Ninth Party Congress

Abstract

Vietnamese politics are shaped by the five-year cycle between national congresses of the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP). The last national party congress was held in mid-1996 and the next congress, the Ninth, is scheduled for March 2001. A national congress has four main responsibilities: approve the party’s Political Report, adopt a long-term socioeconomic strategy, amend the party’s statutes and platform, and elect a new leadership. In the months leading up to a national congress, various internal party factions maneuver to shape policy outcomes and the leadership selection process. Events during the year indicate that splits within the party over its senior leadership, that emerged at the Eighth Party Congress, still remained. This article reviews major political, economic and foreign relations developments during the year through this framework.