Battle of Ballots

Another kind of battle is beginning in South Viet Nam. It is not a battle of bullets but of ballots. Next Sept. 3, the country's 5.2 million eligible voters will be able to select their first President since Ngo Dinh Diem, who was assassinated in 1963. In a fractious, war-racked country, a weak victor could prove disastrous. A sensible leader, by establishing a popularly based government, could do much to assure stability, security and a democratic destiny for South Viet Nam.

The election campaign does not officially begin until July 19, but for all practical purposes it swung into full speed last week. Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, who announced his candidacy in May, hurried around the country, recruiting support from top generals, impressing the populace with displays of calculated generosity, and keeping his name in the headlines by demanding that 140,000 more U.S. troops should be sent to South Viet Nam. At the same time, his most serious rival, Lieut. General Nguyen Van Thieu, who is Chief of State, formally declared that he is a candidate and began campaigning.

Many U.S. and Vietnamese officials feared that a showdown between the two prideful generals might split the army, which is the primary unifying force in Viet Nam. They thus hoped that one or the other would retreat from the race. But, vowed Thieu, "I do not intend to withdraw."

Super President. For anyone with strong nerves and a desire for power, the presidency is quite a prize. Under the new constitution, the President has all the prerogatives of the U.S. Chief Executive, and then some. He hires and fires the Premier and the entire Cabinet, serves as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, sets both domestic and foreign policy, oversees the budget, has patronage aplenty, and in time of emergency rules by decree. The job would be a significant step up for Ky, whose present powers as Premier are substantial but ill-defined, or for Thieu, whose Chief of State position, outwardly at least, is largely ceremonial.

As a candidate, Thieu has some advantages. In a land that reveres age, he is slightly older (44 to 36) than Ky. He is a native of South Viet Nam and married to a woman from the Delta, while Ky suffers from the disadvantage of being a Northerner. Quiet and unobtrusive, Thieu commands more respect among his fellow generals than Ky, who is resented by many for being too cocky and pushy. Thieu also outranks Ky in the military, three stars to two.

A Dragon & Salems. Largely because he holds the nation's No. 1 job now, Ky is the undisputed front runner. He is not at all reluctant to use his government power for his own advantage. His campaign symbol--a flying black dragon--is seen nightly on the state-owned television channel. He has sprinkled the countryside with billboards that woo the small man: THE GOVERNMENT OF NGUYEN CAO KY IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE POOR. He has bid for the votes of the 620,000 soldiers and 220,000 civil servants by granting them 15% raises. His ally, National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan, is using his own persuasive powers among the provincial chiefs, and the boss of the pacification program is doubling as Ky's campaign manager. Government censors, controlled by Ky, play up news about him while playing down Thieu.

Ky is also ahead because he has been campaigning conspicuously for weeks. He has played up to Saigon's rich Chinese community by promising to give them back schools and hospitals seized by Diem. He has developed campaign gimmicks that go over surprisingly well. He likes to single out an obviously impoverished member of a crowd and whip out his own wallet, hand over all the money in it--usually $2 to $20. A Ky aide then replenishes the wallet. Similarly, Ky often offers one of his Salem cigarettes to a bystander, lights it up and asks how he likes it. When the fellow allows that Ky's smokes are smooth, the Premier hands over the whole pack.

Subsidies & Skeptics. In the slim hope that the two generals will split the vote so evenly that a lesser-known man might score an upset, eight civilian candidates have entered the race. Only two command enough country-wide support to be serious contenders. One is Phan Khac Suu, 62, an experienced statesman who was Chief of State in 1965 and is now chairman of the Constituent Assembly, which drafted the new constitution. The other: Tran Van Huong, 63, a coolie's son who rose to become Premier for three months in 1965, until he was deposed by an army coup that ultimately resulted in the present regime of ruling generals.

Though Ky has decreed that each candidate will receive a $90,000 government grant for campaign expenses and that all will have equal opportunity for government transportation and television time, the civilians in the contest are skeptical about his pledge that "it will be a fair election." Some of them appealed to the U.S. mission in Saigon for help. The U.S., however, is striving to remain impartial and uninvolved. From Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker on down, U.S. policy is that the election is strictly a South Vietnamese affair and that the U.S. can live with whoever wins. From all indications, it can indeed. Not one candidate has suggested lessening the Allied war effort.

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