Leadership Style
Under Đỗ Mười, at least three Central Committee plenums were held each year. He introduced order, routine and predictability into the party's political system. Each plenum centered on key issues under his rule, and discussions took place in an intensive environment. Under Đỗ Mười, the Central Committee plenums focused on national issues rather than party centered work as had been the case under Nguyễn Văn Linh. According to Louis Stern, "Muoi introduced into the plenary session a process of small group work in preparing specific policy assessments that drew on the recommendations of participating technical specialists, unidentified 'scientific groups,' 'intellectuals at home and abroad' (possibly a reference to overseas Vietnamese investors, businessmen, and economists), veterans, as well as the conventional assortment of party cadres, members, and party committee representatives" for Central Committee plenums. These small groups were even given the power of preparing and receiving reports intended for Central Committee plenums beforehand as to come up with well-rounded proposals or well-conceived comments on specific documents generated by a plenum.
Throughout his rule, Đỗ Mười tried to lead Central Committee plenum debates toward consensus. Also, throughout his tenure, Đỗ Mười avoided backing controversial issues in the sake of avoiding splits within the Central Committee. When a consensus failed to materialize within the Central Committee, which was the case with the 8th plenum of the 7th Central Committee when it failed to devise a suitable wording on the direction of ideological work, the task of revising and amending the Central Committee's resolution was transferred to the 7th Politburo.
In contrast to Nguyễn Văn Linh, Đỗ Mười used more trying to find a common ground with the Central Committee rather than campaigning for his own views. In his speeches, and in his debate participation, Đỗ Mười was less controversial, and when uttering words, he commented on, and supported traditional party principles. According to Louis Stern, "Unlike Nguyen Van Linh, Muoi did not seek to plot out unique alternatives to nagging problems, propose unconventional approaches to issues, or forge a new consensus on critical matters. Much less forceful than his predecessor in urging support for his views, Muoi was, if anything, on the conservative side of the equation on several matters", such as securing state domination over the economy and retaining strong party control over the country.
Read more about this topic: Do Muoi
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