Travels | Vietnam | Communist elections of a cooperative in Thanh Hoa province

Communist elections of a cooperative

May 10, 2005

Today we had our first general assembly with one of the project’s 10 cooperatives – Thiet Ke. This coop has been doing reasonably well up to now with the purchase of bamboo trees from members, and its management board is fairly active. We worked closely with the coop to assist in the preparation so that they could use this opportunity to reach its members and address certain issues regarding irregular supply of bamboo.

We held a preparation session and invited all the members to remind them of their rights and obligations – roughly how a coop works with one member one vote – and also to give them the main documents so they can have a look before the general assembly. The meeting went the Vietnamese way, which is to read every word and number of each report but their argument is that if they don’t do it this way, members will not read them. Then an active board member showed a dynamic PowerPoint presentation which identified clearly the challenges, issues and solutions for the development of the cooperative.

The next day was the general assembly. I couldn’t believe that once again, they read each and every report and this time, they couldn’t claim that the members had not read it! We all had. Still, a “passage obligé” as we say in French. Then came the discussion session which I was looking forward to. As an advisor, we always deal with the management board and wonder what the members really want/need. But at first, no one dares to speak so my colleague asks a few questions to the board members. I follow by asking what the coop advantages are for the members – be it a higher price or special service. But I get no answer. Then a woman gets up and speaks her mind.

As everyone listens, she says that she doesn’t want to sell her bamboo to the cooperative anymore because the price is lower than the one given to her by local traders. Whatsmore, they offer a better service and collect the trees regularly at her land where she harvests. She adds that once, she sold 41 trees to the coop but the quality of the bamboo was downgraded so that in the end, she got very little. And then, the coop only paid her one week later. She accuses directly the vice-president for this since he was the one that handled the purchase and she asks that he explain himself. I am getting translation for this, trying hard to follow as I am very curious to see how and if a board member can be held accountable. But it is no surprise when the vice-president answers only to tell the women that she knows nothing of how to categorize bamboo quality and that she is lying. Wham! Here is something to encourage others to speak!

The discussion comes to a close without resolution of the issue. Then the slow and painful reading of each line of the by-law follows before the session is paused for a break. The district leader comes by with the agenda and says that the planned vote of confidence for the board members cannot be allowed. “This could remove a board member if he doesn’t get a majority of votes and cause much instability for the cooperative », he says. He adds that it is better for the communist party to recommend candidates for the board who have qualifications. I remind him that we consulted his office re the agenda and the vote, and that they had agreed. Also, this agenda had been adopted by the members, who expected the vote to take place. Nothing to do. Once we have resumed the session after the break, the district leader informs the members about the fact that there will be no vote of confidence and asks that they respect the wish of the party. Then comes the election for the vacant positions. Quickly, 2 names are proposed by the “party” as qualified candidates and the members are asked to vote. Did any member want to propose other candidates? I had no time to find out as the election was already over - very paternalistic way of doing democracy. I felt that we had let down the members who were told to be passive participants, judged incompetent and treated as such. The vice-president should have been voted out to show that members do have some power.

The reading of yet more reports and the thrilling financial statements came and went. Then the party leader gave his encouragement speech and he even dared say that members should not discuss problems in public at general assemblies. It should be done by the management board and the members have to trust in them and support them. I wanted to cry and scream, but instead I read to them the project strategy for the last year. The communist party’s influence is now obvious, and the coop principles fall behind in the dust. The Vietnamese culture of the Big Brother who knows best is the reality and there is no other way of looking at the coop.

Before closing the session, I wanted to speak to the members again and reach them is some way. I mentioned that the goal of the project and its cooperative was to contribute to increase their income and quality of life, but that the cooperative was facing many challenges: the price of bamboo was low and the service not competitive. But I believe that we can overcome this by signing contract with buyers and bypassing the local traders, or by doing bamboo transformation. I vowed that the project would do everything to support the cooperative to succeed and asked that they do their part and supply bamboo. I was idealist and wanted to think that we could win and make the coop work. Otherwise, why bother? The next year will either prove me to be right or not.