751G.00/8–2652: Telegram
The Ambassador at Saigon (Heath) to the Department of State
454. Rptd info Paris 106, Hanoi unnumbered. Pres Tam informed Emb off yesterday first mtg of provisional natl council wld take place [Page 242] in Saigon Sept 1. He expects to be able increase membership of council very shortly thereafter, following promulgation of decree permitting org of labor unions, which Pres stated now in final drafting stage. He hopes to be able hold elections for Natl Assembly on or about Jan 1 and said electoral system wld be primarily based on traditional Vietnamese village structure. He anticipates that village council of notables directly chosen by inhabitants will elect reps to provincial assemblies, which in turn will elect members of Natl Assembly. Distribution of seats, in President’s opinion, will probably conform to fol pattern: Approx 40 seats each for North and South Vietnam and 20 seats for Central Vietnam, thus giving presumptive total membership of about 100 for Assembly.
Difficulties inherent in organization and holding of election in war-ravaged country were underlined by Tam who seems determined, however, to proceed with this primary phase of his program. He described village council of notables as ideal basis for Viet electoral system because of its closeness to people, who are already familiar with its functions. He believes village inhabitants are accustomed by long habit to choice of most honest of their fellow citizens as members of council of notables, which in turn can be relied upon with more assurance than any other body to elect reputable reps to provincial assemblies. He referred to this process as kind of democratic purification from lower to upper polit levels and indicated his belief that it provides best method of giving people indispensable sense of participation in polit affairs in harmony with natl and local custom.
Tam spoke earnestly and with measure of quiet pride in his program of reforms, which he believes will serve in time as powerful attractive force not only to nationalist fence-sitters but also to many non-communists still in Viet Minh zone. He seems convinced that it will serve to accelerate what he described as a marked decline (grosse baisse) in VM civilian morale, which he attributes primarily to war weariness and to arbitrary exactions and reprisals of VM mil on local populations. He cited as case in point what he is certain is large measure of bluff in VM agrarian policy in accordance with which farmer having recd grant of land is never sure when it may be snatched from him again for purely arbitrary polit reasons. He contrasted this with his own program of land distribution, which provides for duly certified and legally registered transfers of land, thus increasing individual farmers sense of security of tenure and enhancing his stake in maintenance of order. He obviously believes that people will respond favorably to concrete achievements of his reform program, as goals laid down are successively reached.