National Social Democratic Front

Political party in Vietnam

Politics of Vietnam
Political parties
Elections

The National Social Democratic Front (Vietnamese: Mặt trận Quốc gia Dân chủ Xã hội), later named the Social Democratic Alliance (Vietnamese: Liên minh Dân chủ Xã hội), was a South Vietnamese political party which was effectively a federation of different groups, united by their anti-communist stance. Its chairman was Lt. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, leader of South Vietnam from 1965–1975.

History

Democratic Progressive Party

The party was founded as the Democratic Progressive Party (Vietnamese: Đảng Dân-chủ Tiến-bộ) or simply Democratic Party (Vietnamese: Đảng Dân-Chủ) by Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in 1967.^[5] It was not linked with its North Vietnam namesake, aligned with the Viet Minh and Communists. The Democratic Party, purportedly representing farmers, workers and small traders, participated in the presidential election of 1967, supporting President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and his military rule. The party also adopted the flag of the National Revolutionary Movement and the Vanguard Youth, a youth organization that participated to August Revolution in 1945 against French colonial rule.^[6]

National Social Democratic Front

As the Vietnam War flared up, the Democratic Party tried to build a coalition with other anti-communist parties. In May 1969, the Democrats finally dissolved themselves into a new subject, the National Social Democratic Front. The party became quickly a federation of several organizations and parties, such as: persecuted Roman Catholics who fled from North Vietnam; the Vietnam Republic Veterans Association, who sympathized with military rule; the Vietnamese Kuomintang, ideologically opposed to communists like its Chinese counterpart; the Democratic Socialist Party, who rejected communists' atheism for Buddhist socialism; the Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam (along with its militant's branch, the National Radical Movement), that desired to reunify Vietnam but not under communists;^[7] the Personalist Revolutionary Party, the heir of Can Lao Party and the Peasants' and Workers' Party, supporting rural interests and opposite to Viet Cong's guerrilla.

Social Democratic Alliance

The parties' federation was functional during Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's tenure as president and changed its name to Social Democratic Alliance in 1973. However, with the Vietnamization policy adopted by U.S. President Richard Nixon, South Vietnam inexorably started its collapse. The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 was a turning point in the war, causing the end of American intervention in Vietnam. Despite the peace agreement between communist North Vietnam and capitalist South Vietnam, in 1975 North Vietnam broke the peace and started the takeover of South Vietnam. Since the United States refused another intervention, South Vietnam collapsed after the Fall of Saigon, causing the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.

Democratic Alliance for Vietnam

Many members of the Front and South Vietnamese government were executed by the new administration, but others fled from Vietnam. In 1981, many former members of the Front created the Democratic Alliance for Vietnam, a pluralist extra-parliamentary opposition group based in California who want restore freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

Prominent members

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Running mate	Votes	%	Result
1967	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu	Nguyễn Cao Kỳ	1,649,561	34.83%	Elected Y
1971	Nguyễn Văn Thiệu	Trần Văn Hương	5,971,114	100%	Elected Y

Notes and references

Notes

References

^ PRESIDENT THIEU ATTENDS DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION 1973
^ PRESIDENT NGUYEN VAN THIEU ATTENDS REVIEW PARADE 1973
^ INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT THIEU'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY 1973
^ William J. Duiker. Nationalism and Revolution in Vietnam: The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam. University of British Columbia Press. pp. 89–90.
^ "TỔNG THỐNG NGUYỄN VĂN THIỆU : CÔNG VÀ TỘI". Ongvove Wordpress. 1973.
^ www.truclamyentu.info/tlls_nguyenduyan/chuyenlaco1.htm
^ Nathalie Huynh; Chau Nguyen (2015). New Perceptions of the Vietnam War: Essays on the War, the South Vietnamese Experience, the Diaspora and the Continuing Impact. McFarland. p. 65.

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External links

(in English) The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1956 (archived from the original on 2009-03-25)
The Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam 1967
(in Vietnamese) HIẾN PHÁP VIỆT NAM CỘNG HOÀ 1967
Timeline of NVA invasion of South Vietnam
Ông Hoàng Đức Nhã : 45 năm nhìn lại biến cố 30/4 (VOA)
KIM NHUNG SHOW | SBTN | Cựu Tổng trưởng Hoàng Đức Nhã 1 2 3
Chương trình Lịch Sử VNCH qua phỏng vấn đặc biệt Cựu Tổng Trưởng Hoàng Đức Nhã
Nguyên Tổng trưởng Hoàng Đức Nhã và các tổng trưởng VNCH viếng Việt Museum