Vietnam Strives to Prevent Establishment of Opposition

nguyễn tấn dũng

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered local security forces to prevent establishment of opposition to maintain the country under one-party regime, according to state media.  At a meeting in Hanoi on Dec 20 with the Ministry of Public Security, PM Dung asked the police forces to effectively deal with “hostile forces” to ensure the country’s political stability in 2015 when the ruling communist party prepares for its National Congress slated in 2016.

By Vu Quoc Ngu | Dec 22, 2014

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered local security forces to prevent establishment of opposition to maintain the country under one-party regime, according to state media.

At a meeting in Hanoi on Dec 20 with the Ministry of Public Security, PM Dung asked the police forces to effectively deal with “hostile forces” to ensure the country’s political stability in 2015 when the ruling communist party prepares for its National Congress slated in 2016.

He also demanded the police forces to cope with rising crimes to ensure social order.

Dung made requirements amid the intensified political crackdown. In May, the communist government arrested blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh, who is co-founder of AnhBaSam news website, and charged him and his co-worker under Article 258 of the Criminal Code.

In late November and December, security forces in Ho Chi Minh City detained bloggers Hong Le Tho and Nguyen Quang Lap, who have posted anti-China articles on their private pages.

Local activists reported that Vietnam’s authorities have intensified harassment and intimidation against political dissident and social activists.

According to international human rights bodies, Vietnam is holding over 200 political dissents, including Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and human rights advocate lawyer Le Quoc Quan. The communist government has used fabricated criminal offences to silence local dissent, they noted.

Vietnam ranks fifth among the worst jailers of journalists in 2014 with 16 reporters currently put behind the bars, said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) last week.

Hanoi has always denied, saying it holds only law violators.

Meanwhile, the communist party rejects to depoliticize the country’s army, saying the army must remain absolutely loyal to the ruling party which monopolistically manages the nation in decades.