The media although state controlled are relaxed

The media, although state controlled, are relaxed.Compared to Ho Chi Minh City, which, as Saigon, was capital of the anti- Communist south, Hanoi is a newcomer to the free market. In the popular imagination, Dai Hoi (Congress) VIII is no match for Euro ‘96.At any time other than Congress week, it would not be obvious that Vietnam was a Communist country at all. The question Vietnamese were eager to ask a British visitor yesterday was: “What about the England-Germany penalty shoot-out?”I haven’t mastered the Vietnamese for We wuz robbed but the lesson was clear. For all the lofty decisions being weighed in the committee rooms, the country has more interesting things to occupy itself with than politics. RICHARD LLOYD PARRY

Hanoi
At nine o’clock this morning, amid much solemnity, the Communist Party of Vietnam will convene its Eighth Congress, and on the streets of Hanoi yesterday there was only one topic of conversation. Was it the future of doi moi, the policy of cautious free market “renovation” which has transformed Vietnam’s economy since the 1980s? No. Was it the Orientations and Tasks of the 1996-2000 Socio-Economic Plan, due to be adopted over the weekend? No.

In his view, these arrangements are conditional upon Western security guarantees for Republika Srpska and upon an assurance that international arbitration over the control of the contested northern Bosnian town of Brcko should go in the Serbs’ favour.Carl Bildt, the international High Representative for Bosnia, dismissed Mr Karadzic’s conditions as unacceptable.US officials said that even if Mr Karadzic was now “marginalised” on the political scene, this was not the same as his “unconditional removal from power” and transfer to The Hague for trial – both of which are stipulated in the Dayton accord.. It wasn’t even the imminent arrival of the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Peng, the most senior Chinese visitor to attend a congress since 1936. Mr Milosevic has in turn been under US pressure to force Mr Karadzic out of power or face renewed international isolation.Mr Karadzic is still doing his utmost to avoid going on trial at the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, where a public hearing opened yesterday against him and his military commander, General Ratko Mladic.In exchange for not standing in the elections, Mr Karadzic wants to remain as president until polling day on 14 September and aims to retain the leadership of the ruling Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). TONY BARBER

Europe Editor
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal, was fighting for his political survival yesterday after succumbing to intense international pressure not to stand in Bosnia’s first post-war elections next September.One week after indicating his intention to run for re-election as president of Republika Srpska, the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia, Mr Karadzic has been forced to back down in the face of what his Prime Minister, Gojko Klickovic, called “horrible pressures exerted by the international community and Yugoslavia [Serbia and Montenegro]“.The decisive factor appears to have been a threat by President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia to restore sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs unless Mr Karadzic withdrew from the elections. Mr Lebed yesterday supported the idea of a coalition government – an idea, albeit different in form, first suggested by the Communist leader.And, after vilifying the Communists for months, Mr Yeltsin said he was “ready for dialogue and co-operation with all those for whom the fate of Russia is a top priority”, including “honest Communists”.The question is whether this is just vote-seeking posturing, or whether they will really work in unison after polling day.. Last week he accused five generals of plotting a coup after the firing of the Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev.

He subsequently toned down the allegations – although four of the officers were sacked. Whatever the truth of the matter, this is scarcely the kind of indecision one would expect from a security chief at his level.This and other episodes may be part of a larger development; as the presidential race draws to a close, the Kremlin is moving closer towards Mr Zyuganov’s camp. It may help explain why Mr Yeltsin’s energetic campaign appears to be ending in a whimper. The President was to have been on a trip yesterday, but he decided to remain in Moscow; mindful, no doubt, of the need to keep an eye on his protege.Yesterday’s performance was not Mr Lebed’s first bout of excitable behaviour since becoming the secretary of the Security Council. Mr Lebed, a moderate on most other fronts, yesterday gave them a good reason not to bother voting at all.His unpredictability and political inexperience is undoubtedly worrying the Kremlin, and raises the possibility that his wings will be clipped after the election.