Dissent rises in Vietnam over one-party monopoly on power
Critics, including some insiders, say socialist system has been corrupted by shift to market economy that has given rise to culture of graft
The Vietnam of today wasn't what Le Hieu Dang had hoped for when he joined the Communist Party 40 years ago to liberate and rebuild a country reeling from decades of war and French and US occupation.
The socialist system of the late revolutionary Ho Chi Minh has been corrupted, he says, by a shift to a market economy tightly controlled by one political party that has given rise to a culture of graft and vested interests.
Vietnam has entered a new phase. … This is a period of uncertainty
"I fought in the war for a better society, a fair life for people. But after the war, the country has worsened, the workers are poor, the farmers have lost their land," Dang said
"It's unacceptable. We have a political monopoly and a dictatorship running this country."
In Vietnam, where free speech is stifled and the image of unity in the Communist Party of Vietnam sacrosanct, analysts say the significance of comrades speaking out publicly cannot be understated.
The party-dominated National Assembly on Thursday approved amendments to a 1992 constitution that, despite a public consultation campaign, entrench the party's grip on power at a time when discontent simmers over its handling of land disputes, corruption and an economy suffocated by toxic debt amassed by state-run firms.