The Vietnamese Soviet Republic
As Ta Thu Thau arrived back to Saigon from Phnom Penh, he was met with a massive, cheering crowd of Vietnamese workers and peasants. The crowd was later said to number in the millions, but historians generally agree on a figure between 500,000 and 750,000. There, Ta Thu Thau declared the "Vietnamese Soviet Republic", and announced a Constituent Assembly. The assembly will include 100 members, who will be elected by party lists with the whole country a single electoral district.
The Provisional Revolutionary Council was tasked with deciding the exact rules for the elections. It was agreed that parties and individuals who collaborated with French Imperialism will not be allowed to compete, a rule specifically created to disenfranchise the ICP. But beyond that rule, every individual, male or female, above the age of 18 will be allowed to elect or be elected.
The elections were to be held in the first of November. Before the elections, some members of the ICP, who wanted to reconcile with the Trotskyites and participate in the elections, leaved and formed the "Vietnamese Communists" together with Left- wing Nationalists. They were lead by Ngueyn Ah Ninh, an "independent Marxist" who created the united front between Stalinists, Trotskyites and Left- wing Nationalists in the 30's. As time moved on they became a part of the Bukharinite "Right Opposition".
Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, who were not just political groups but also religions, decided not to run in the elections, in order not to come into conflict with the Trotskyites, who might have seen that as a violation of the separation between church and state.
The Main Parties in the Elections to the Constituent Assembly:
The Trotskyites:
The Struggle (La Lutte): lead by Ta Thu Thau
Economic Policy: La Lutte supports immediate collectivization of all industry and mines. They support collectivization of agriculture in theory, but in practice they propose very weak measures in the short term.
Social Policy: La Lutte is generally socially libertarian, supporting equal law for all.
Foreign Policy: La Lutte's foremost concern is keeping Vietnam and its revolution safe, so they support friendly relations with both the Capitalists and the Stalinists.
International Communist League (formerly the October Group): lead by Ho Huu Thuong
Economic Policy: Like La Lutte, the ICL support immediate collectivization of industry and mines, but they also support more workers control than "La Lutte". They support the collectivization of agriculture, and propose a "carrot and stick" approach to encourage peasants to form agricultural collectives.
Social Policy: The ICL is strongly social libertarian, supporting not only equal law for all, but also "affirmative action" to help women and ethnic minorities.
Foreign Policy: The ICL is more confrontational than "La Lutte", both against Capitalists and Stalinists, but they still recognize the limits of Vietnam's power.
Nationalists:
Vietnamese Communists: lead by Nguyen Ah
Economic Policy: The VC support nationalization of industry and mines, with much less workers control and much more state control than "La Lutte" and the ICL propose. Regarding Agricultural policy, they do not call for collectivization, instead calling for a model based on the NEP.
Social Policy: While officially supporting equal law for all, they are "de facto" social conservatives.
Foreign Policy: The VC is mostly isolationist.
Vietnamese Nationalist Party: lead by Nhat Linh
Economic Policy: The VNP support nationalization of industry and mines, but they generally support small, independent producers, both in the cities and the countryside.
Social Policy: The VNP are unashamedly socially conservatives.
Foreign Policy: The VNP support the Chinese Kuomintang, but beyond that they are Isolationists.
The urban workers supported almost exclusively the Trotskyites. The situation among the peasants and rural workers and craftsmen was more complicated. Generally, the poorer a peasant was, the more left- wing he voted. Independent Craftsmen, both in the city and in the countryside, voted massively to the VNP. There was also a large trend, exactly how large is unknown, of rural women secretly voting for the ICL, since it was the only party that came out strongly for the interests of women, both economic and social.
Results of the Constituent Assembly Elections (rounded):
The Struggle (La Lutte): 36%
International Communist League: 23%
Vietnamese Communists: 17%
Vietnamese Nationalist Party: 24%
The Trotskyites formed a coalition, "The Workers and Peasants Front", colloquially known as the "Red Front", while the Vietnamese Communists and the Vietnamese Nationalist Party formed the "Vietnamese Popular Front", colloquially known as the "Blue Front".
The last action of the Provisional Revolutionary Council before dissolving itself was the adoption of a flag, which combined a traditional Vietnamese flag with the Hammer and Sickle:
On the 5th of November the 100 delegates met in the Saigon Hotel de Ville (City Hall). The "Red Front" which had more than 50 delegates, could safely disregard the "Blue Front".
The Vietnamese constitution protected all the bourgeoisie liberties, but also much more. Wage slavery was abolished; free education and free healthcare were to be provided; and there would be a minimum wage and a generous pension plan for all.
Vietnam was divided into 60 Regional Soviets. Each Regional Soviet will contain a number of members based on the size of the region. The citizens of each Regional Soviet will send representatives to a unicameral parliament of 500 members, the "Assembly of Soviet Representatives", or as it was informally called, the Soviet Assembly. Representatives will be apportioned to each soviet according to population, with each getting at least one. Elections will be held every four years, and the representatives will be elected according to party lists, with each Soviet being a single electoral district. The Soviet Assembly will elect the "Soviet of Ministers" and a First Minister, who will be the "Head of Government". A President will be elected directly by the people once every eight years. If one candidate doesn't earn 50%+1 votes, a second round with only the two leading candidates will be held.
Besides the Regional Soviets, there will be also Workers Soviets. Each collectivized workplace, whether industrial, agricultural or white- collar will have a Soviet, elected by the workers, which will send delegates to Syndicates, which unite several workplaces of the same type according geography. The size of each syndicate will be around the same size, with the more workers in an industry, the more syndicates it will have (e.g.; Saigon Metalworkers Syndicate, Vietnam Academics Syndicate, Northeast Artists Syndicate). Each Syndicate will send a delegate to a nationwide congress, the "Congress of Workers", which will have a leading role in the economy. The Syndicates will also contain a representative from the state, which has the power to veto decisions of the syndicates and the soviets beneath it. Small- holding peasants and independent artisans will not be able to form soviets, and therefore will be unable to participate in the planning of society, part of the "carrot and stick" approach to encourage the 'petty- bourgeoisie' to collectivize and become a part of the proletariat.
In the 19 of November the constitution was complete and ratified. On the 23 of November Elections for the Regional Soviets were held, on the 24, elections for the Workers Soviets were held and on the 25 of November there were elections for the Soviet Assembly, which resulted in almost the same results as the elections for the constituent assembly.
[FONT="]For the first few months, Vietnam looked inwards, building up its economy. But that stopped in the first of March. In a mass rally in Saigon, First Minister Ta Thu Thau invited the Fourth International to hold its Second World Congress in Saigon in two months, in the First of May, which they accepted. He extended this offer to all Trotskyite parties, including those who split from the Fourth International, Like the Workers Party in the US, led by Max Schachtman, or were never members in the first place.[/FONT]