Word: thieu
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...lunch last week and reportedly urged him to remain in the race, assuring him that the U.S. desired a fair fight. But many Vietnamese and Americans alike wonder whether that is really what Washington wants. They are deeply concerned that the U.S. has become over-identified with Thieu. Accordingly, four former AID employees have launched an intensive lobbying campaign in Washington to reinforce U.S. neutrality during the Vietnamese elections. They advocate creation of a U.S. congressional commission to "observe and study" U.S. involvement in the elections. They also urge that Ambassador Bunker, who has worked closely with Thieu, be brought...
...observers underestimated the Thieu forces' proclivity for strong-arming the opposition. As the elections near, there have been a number of examples of such tactics. Ky was recently locked out of a hall where he was scheduled to speak, and 23 of the last 25 issues of his newspaper, the Lap Truong, have been seized. A prominent anti-Thieu Deputy, Ngo Cong Due, was arrested for striking a provincial councilor who spat beer in his face...
Thus, when the Lower House met last week to reconsider the election bill, tempers were already high. Opposition Deputies taunted the Thieu forces, claiming that the President was buying votes for as much as 700,000 piasters ($2,545). In an effort to force a roll-call vote, Ky Supporter Nguyen Dae Dan leaped to the rostrum, brandished a hand grenade and threatened to pull the pin. Dan was talked into giving up the weapon, and next day, despite his theatrics, the Assembly passed the bill...
What is particularly puzzling is why Thieu felt it necessary to use such extreme pressure against his opponents. It is true that he was chagrined at receiving only 34.8% of the vote in the 1967 election, an unimpressive mandate for a wartime President. But his reelection in October is regarded as virtually certain. Strong-arm tactics may merely encourage Big Minh and perhaps even Ky to withdraw from the race, leading to an unopposed run for the presidency by Thieu. That would be safe but humiliating for anyone trying to bill the election as a triumph of democratic forms. There...
...hard to imagine, however, that such gestures could drastically alter the impression in South Viet Nam that Thieu is Washington's favorite. Last year, after all, Richard Nixon described Thieu as one of the "five or six greatest statesmen" in the world today. No matter how neutral the U.S. appears, Thieu is not likely to let the voters forget that overblown paean...