Vietnam's 1991 Party Elections

Abstract

election of the recent Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist party at its Seventh Congress. The first is increasing fragmentation of power and balkanization of the political system. Second, the leadership group is a transitional one between the old and new generations, but more like the old guard than different from it. Vietnam has not yet discovered its political future. Examination of the composition of this new leadership group reveals that the Seventh Central Committee (CC) of the Communist party differs from its predecessor in at least four significant ways: it is smaller-146 full and alternate members, down from a total of 173 in the Sixth Central Committee; although all categories of Seventh CC members have been reduced, the reduction has fallen disproportionately on members working in the state bureaucracy (down to 54 from 74) rather than the party (down to 70 from 75); the number of members who are party leaders in the provinces has increased from 41 to 47 despite the reduced size of the Central Committee, the only category that shows an absolute increase; finally, and perhaps most signif