Time for Change in Hanoi?

Elections in Communist countries, for all their rubber-stamp quality, occasionally reflect intricate power struggles behind the one-party façade. Such is the case in North Vietnam, where on April 11 the first elections since May 1960 will be held. They will return a parliament that will have as its principal tasks the election of the president of the Republic and a premier.

Ho Chi Minh had been the uncontested leader of the Dang Lao Dong (Communist Party) since its founding in 1930. Now his heirs are feverishly contesting for his position. At the root of the conflict is the Sino-Soviet split, which has been exacerbated by longstanding enmities between leaders of the pro-and anti-Chinese factions. Only Ho had the personality and ability to hold the two together, and even then precariously.

GG

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Gene Gregory

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Elections in Communist countries, for all their rubber-stamp quality, occasionally reflect intricate power struggles behind the one-party façade. Such is the case in North Vietnam, where on April 11 the first elections since May 1960 will be held. They will return a parliament that will have as its principal tasks the election of the president of the Republic and a premier.

Ho Chi Minh had been the uncontested leader of the Dang Lao Dong (Communist Party) since its founding in 1930. Now his heirs are feverishly contesting for his position. At the root of the conflict is the Sino-Soviet split, which has been exacerbated by longstanding enmities between leaders of the pro-and anti-Chinese factions. Only Ho had the personality and ability to hold the two together, and even then precariously.