越南反对政治家庭世袭

AS IT IS 2015-10-28 Vietnamese Object to Political Families 越南反对政治家庭世袭

Critics complain that children of Communist Party members in Vietnam have been elected to high-level positions in the government.

The elections have started a fierce debate on social media across the country about “princelings.” Princelings are the name given to children of high-level government and party officials. 

Many Vietnamese argue that elections should be free. They say the process should be more transparent¹, or open to public view, and the public should be more involved.

The sons of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung were newly elected, Vietnamese media reported. The older son, Nguyen Thanh Nghi, is one of the youngest provincial² party chiefs in Vietnam. He is 39 years old. The younger son, Nguyen Minh Triet, 25, was also selected to be a member of the party committee of Binh Dinh province.

Facing such strong criticism, government officials quickly responded. They said that these elections followed “guidelines and procedures” and were a “positive move.”

Truong Duy Nhat is a blogger who spent two years in prison, from 2013 to 2015, for criticizing the Vietnamese government. He said that a sudden rise of young officials with no experience shows an unhealthy change in the country’s politics.

"It is not clear that these people would not have been elected if they were not the children of high-level officials."

“The public should be pleased but instead they are outraged³, as it is an unfair… process,” Mr. Nhat added. As a result, he said, the public “loses trust in the authorities.”

Pham Chi Dung studies current events in Vietnam. He says that the rise of these so-called princelings shows fighting within the Communist Party. He also said Vietnam’s history shows that if the political situation is healthy, officials “feel no need of pushing their children to different positions.”

The new Vietnamese officials could not be reached for comment. But Nguyen Xuan Anh did make a statement. He is the newly-elected party chief of the central city of Da Nang. He said that he was under a lot of pressure to take the new job. Mr. Anh is the son of Nguyen Van Chi, a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party.

In addition, one statement claims the prime minister’s older son said “family tradition and personal effort” helped his rise in the party.

This development comes as the Vietnamese Communists get ready for their 12th party congress in early 2016. That gathering⁴ is expected to select the country’s next top leaders.   

Words in This Story

provincial – adj. of, relating to, or coming from any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into

guideline(s) – n. a rule or instruction that shows or tells how something should be done

procedure(s) - n. an established or accepted way of doing something

positive – adj. good or useful

blogger – n. a person who writes for a Web site about personal opinions, activities, and experiences

authorities – n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws

1 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

2 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。