Word: thieu
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...course, all that simple. Thieu carefully refrained from saying just how large or small a vote would constitute an expression of confidence. And though voters could conceivably cast blank ballots as a way of showing disapproval, the President's supporters have ways of assuring desired election results (see following story). By ridding himself of all potential challengers-most notably Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky and retired General Duong Van ("Big") Minh-Thieu had placed himself in a position of power unparalleled in South Viet Nam since the days of the late Ngo Dinh Diem...
...Thieu had no opponents at the top, however, he did not lack for opposition, as last week's elections to the Lower House of South Viet Nam's National Assembly abundantly demonstrated. The Assembly has been corrupt-a vote cost $ 180 and ardent support of a bill brought up to $1,800-and virtually powerless, and so many candidates ran this time that the election was a cross between a popularity contest and a lottery. But the voting did reveal Thieu's growing unpopularity. Thieu had hoped to win a solid two-thirds majority...
...major factor in the downfall of Diem. The Buddhists, who were strong in the northern provinces, emerged from the election with 31 seats, the second biggest bloc in the House, though by no means a united one. The opposition counted 58 members in all, more than the total of Thieu's known supporters. A more ominous preview of the sort of opposition that could be mounted in the absence of a genuine presidential election came last week when Buddhists and students demonstrated in Saigon after three of their number fell ill and died during military training. Outside the National...
...Thieu had virtually assured that he would hold power uneasily by the tactics he used in easing his opponents out of the race-starting with his pushing through a stringent election law that eliminated his old enemy, Vice President Ky. That move in turn persuaded Big Minh to withdraw, since he had no hope of winning unless Ky drew off some of Thieu's military support. Faced with the prospect of an uncontested election and Washington's certain displeasure, Thieu blinked once. South Viet Nam's Supreme Court obligingly ruled that Ky's name would...
Last week Thieu brusquely dropped even the appearance of a contested election, and in the process moved along the thin edge of South Vietnamese constitutional law. In a letter to the Chief Justice of South Viet Nam's Supreme Court, Tran Van Linh, Thieu noted that Ky had refused to run and demanded a ruling on whether there was now one candidate or two. Seven of the nine Justices (two were abroad) met informally in Saigon, and agreed six to one that Ky had in effect withdrawn. Since the law had not provided for a one-man race, Chief...