Pengguna:MRFazry/sandbox
Referendum Negara Vietnam 1955 menentukan masa depan bentuk pemerintahan dari Negara Vietnam, negara yang akhirnya akan menjadi Republik Vietnam (secara luas dikenal sebagai Vietnam Selatan). Referendum ini diperebutkan oleh Perdana Menteri Ngô Đình Diệm, yang mengajukan bentuk republik, dan bekas kaisar Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại telah turun tahta dari kaisar sejak 1945 dan pada waktu itu referendum mempertahankan jabatan kepala negara. Meskipun perhitungan yang diumumkan menunjukkan Diệm memenangi pemilihan dengan 98.2% suara, referendum ini secara luas dikotori oleh kecurangan pemungutan suara. Di ibu kota, Saigon, Diệm mendapatkan lebih dari 600,000 suara, meskipun hanya ada 450,000 orang yang menjadi daftar pemilih.[1][2] Dia mengumpulkan He accumulated perhitungan melampaui 90% of dari pemilih yang terdaftar, bahkan di kawasan pedalaman yang kelompok oposisi mencegah pemungutan suara.
Referendum ini merupakan fase terakhir dalam perebutan kekuasaan antara Bảo Đại dan perdana menterinya. Bảo Đại tidak menyukai Diệm dan beberapa kali mencoba untuk melemahkannya, menunjuknya hanya karena dia sebagai penghubung untuk bantuan Amerika. Pada waktu itu, negara ini sedang mengalami masa ketidakamanan, sebagaimana Vietnam untuk sementara dipecah sebagai hasil dari Kesepakatan Jenewa 1954 yang menghentikan Perang Indochina Pertama. Negara Vietnam menguasai setengah negara bagian selatan, menunda pemilihan nasional yang dimaksudkan untuk menyatukan kembali negara ini di bawah pemerintahan umum. Ditambah lagi, Vietnamese National Army tidak menguasai penuh bagian selatan Vietnam; sekte keagamaan Cao Đài dan Hòa Hảo menjalankan administrasi mereka sendiri di daerah mereka didukung oleh tentara swasta, sementara Bình Xuyên mengatur sindikat kriminal menguasai jalan-jalan di Saigon. Meskipun ada gangguan dari kelompok-kelompok ini, Bảo Đại, dan bahkan pejabat Perancis, Diệm berhasil menaklukkan tentara swasta dan mengkonsolidasikan kekuasaan pemerintah atas negara tersebut pertengahan 1955.
Mendapat keberanian atas kesuksesannya, Diệm mulai merencanakan kejatuhan Bảo Đại. Dia menjadwalkan referendum pada tanggal 23 Oktober 1955 dan memaksa Bảo Đại keluar dari panggung politik, menghalangi usaha dari bekas kaisar itu untuk menggelincirkan pemungutan suara. Pada masa menjelang pemungutan suara, kampanye untuk Bảo Đại dilarang, sementara kampanye Diệm berfokus pada serangan personal terhadap Bảo Đại. Ini termasuk kartun pornografi dari kepala negara itu dan rumor yang menyebutkan bahwa kekuasaan dia tidak sah dan penghubungan dia terhadap beberapa gundik. Media yang dikuasai pemerintah melancarkan serangan polemik kepada Bảo Đại, dan polisi dari pintu ke pintu mengingatkan masyarakat akan konsekuensi jika tidak mau memilih. Setelah saaudaranya Ngô Đình Nhu dengan sukses mencurangi pemungutan suara, Diệm mengumumkan dia sebagai president dari negara yang baru dibuat Republik Vietnam.
Latar belakang
Kekalahan Tentara Perancis di Điện Biên Phủ pada 1954, diikuti oleh Persetujuan Jenewa, mengarah kepada pembagian Vietnam. Negara Vietnam yang didukung Perancis dipimpin oleh Kaisar Bảo Đại, untuk sementara waktu menguasai bagian selatan dari garis paralel ke-17. Viet Minh Hồ Chí Minh menguasai bagian utara atas nama Republik Demokratik Vietnam, yang Hồ Chí Minh umumkan di 1945. Persetujuan menyatakan bahwa pemilihan berskala nasional akan dilaksanakan pada 1956 untuk menyatukan negara di bawah pemerintahan umum. Pada Juli 1954, selama masa transisi, Bảo Đại menunjuk Diệm sebagai Perdana Menteri Negara Vietnam.[3]
Pada 11 Oktober 1954, perbatasan ditutup oleh International Control Commission (Komisi Kontrol Internasional), setelah selama 300 hari di kedua belah negara diperbolehkan melintas secara bebas. Di bawah Persetujuan Jenewa, personel militer anti-komunis diharuskan mengungsi ke selatan, sementara pasukan komunis dipindahkan ke utara. Masyarakat sipil boleh berpindah ke tempat yang mereka inginkan dengan bebas. Selama 300 hari, Diệm dan penasihat dari CIA Amerika Serikat Kolonel Edward Lansdale melancarkan kampanye untuk meyakinkan masyarakat untuk pindah ke Vietnam Selatan. Kampanye khususnya ditujukan kepada Katolik Vietnam, yang akan memberikan basis keuatan untuk Diệm di tahun-tahun berikutnya, dengan menggunakan slogan "Tuhan telah pergi ke selatan". Antara 800.000 dan 1.000.000 orang berpindah ke selatan, sebagian besar Katolik. Di awal 1955, Indochina Perancis dibubarkan, meninggalkan Diệm dalam kekuasaan sementara di selatan.[4][5]
Pada waktu itu, Diệm memiliki kewenangan yang sedikit di luar gerbang istananya. Bảo Đại memiliki kepercayaan yang kecil untuknya dan memberikan dukungan yang sedikit—pasangan ini telah berselisih di masa lalu, dengan Diem mengundurkan diri sebagai Menteri Dalam Negeri Bảo Đại dua dekade sebelumnya, menganggap kepala negara itu lemah dan tidak efektif.[6][7] Banyak sejarawan mempercayai bahwa Bảo Đại boleh jadi memilih Diệm atas kemampuan yang terakhir ini untuk menarik dukungan dan pendanaan Amerika Serikat.[8][9] Selama masa transisi, French Expeditionary Corps mempertahankan keberadaannya di Vietnam Selatan.[10] Hal ini berujung pada ketegangan antara Perancis dan Negara Vietnam. Diệm, seorang nasionalis yang penuh semangat, membenci Perancis, yang membalasnya dengan berharap dia gagal, bahkan menyerukan penurunannya dalam beberapa kesempatan.[11][12]
Diệm menghadapi tantangan untuk kewenangannya dari empat kelompok lain. Sekte keagamaan Hòa Hảo dan Cao Đài memiliki tentara swasta yang menguasai Delta Mekong dan daerah di barat Saigon berturut-turut. Bình Xuyên adalah kelompok kriminal yang terorganisasi dan bersenjata yang menguasai sebagian besar Saigon dengan tentara swasta sebesar 40,000 orang, sementara Vietminh masih menguasai sebagian besar daerah pedalaman. Vietnamese National Army (VNA) Diệm dipimpin oleh Jenderal Nguyễn Văn Hinh, seorang warga negara Perancis yang membenci dan beberapa kali tidak mematuhinya. Bảo Đại menjual izin usaha kepolisian nasional ke Bình Xuyên, secara efektif memberikan kuasa administratif kepolisian ke tangan sindikat kriminal.[13]
Di tengah tumbuhnya skeptisisme Perancis dan Amerika Serikat atas kemampuannya untuk menyediakan kekuasaan yang stabil, Diệm memaksa masalah ini ke puncaknya pada April 1955. Dia memerintahkan Bình Xuyên untuk melepaskan kekuasaan Kepolisian Nasional dan tunduk kepada perintahnya dengan menggabungkannya ke dalam VNA atau membubarkan dan mengancam menghancurkan mereka jika mereka menolak. Dia menyogok komandan Hòa Hảo dan Cao Đài untuk bergabung dengan VNA, secara bertahap menghasilkan pembelotan beberapa komandan dan satuan mereka, sementara lainnya melanjutkan untuk memimpin pasukan mereka melawan Saigon. Bình Xuyên menantang ultimatum Diệm. Pada 27 April, VNA memulai Pertempuran Saigon. Setelah pertempuran yang singkat tetapi ganas yang mengakibatkan antara 500 dan 1.000 orang tewas dan sekitar 20.000 kehilangan tempat tinggal, Bình Xuyên dapat dihancurkan. Diệm mendapatkan kembali kepercayaan Amerika Serikat dan kekuasaan atas kepolisian. Masyarakat banyak gembira memuji Diệm dan mencela Bảo Đại, yang telah mencoba untuk menghentikannya di tengah pertempuran untuk mencegahnya dari menaklukkan Bình Xuyên.[14] Sebagai tambahan, Jenderal Paul Ely, kepala kehadiran Perancis di Vietnam, mencoba untuk to menghalangi Diệm;[15] pasukannya melakukan blokade jalan terhadap VNA dan memberikan intelijen kepada Bình Xuyên.[16]
Didukung oleh keberhasilannya, dan ditambah meningkatnya rasa benci dia kepada Perancis dan Bảo Đại setelah kegiatan mereka mencegahnya dari pencopotan Bình Xuyên,[17] Diệm semakin percaya diri sebagaimana dia berkeliling mengkonsolidasikan kekuasan yang dia pegang. Pada 15 Mei, Diệm menghilangkan posisi Pasukan Pengawal Bảo Đại; pasukannya yang berjumlah 5.000 itu dimasukkan ke Resimen Infantri 11 dan 42 VNA. Diệm mencopoti Bảo Đại dari tanah warisannya yang luas. Pada 15 Juni, Diệm membuat Dewan Keluarga Kerajaan di Huế menyatakan bahwa Bảo Đại akan dilucuti dari kekuasaannya, dan bahwa Diệm akan dijadikan presiden.[18] Keluarga Bảo Đại mengutuknya atas turun tahtanya dari kepala negara, dan atas hubungannya dengan Perancis dan Bình Xuyên.[19] Sejarawan berspekulasi bahwa keluarga kerajaan setuju untuk menyerahkan Bảo Đại sehingga Diệm tidak merebut harta mereka.[19]
Penyelenggaraan referendum
Pada 7 Juli 1955, tepat setahun sejak pengangkatannya sebagai perdana menteri, Diệm mengumumkan bahwa referendum nasional akan diadakan untuk menentukan masa depan negara itu.[18] Pada 16 Juli, Diệm mengumumkan secara terbuka keinginannya untuk tidak ikut andil dalam pemilihan reunifikasi: "Kami tidak akan terikat oleh perjanjian [Jenewa] yang ditandatangani melawan keinginan masyarakat Vietnam."[a][20]
Diệm berpendapat bahwa Komunis tidak akan pernah memperkenankan pemilihan yang bebas di daerah utara, jadi Vietnam Selatan harus menciptakan dan mendirikan negara sendiri yang terpisah, negara non-komunis.[20] Hal ini diumumkan oleh pers di Saigon, yang membuat artikel yang menyerang pemilihan komunis sebagai sesuatu yang kacau, dicurangi, dan tak ada artinya;[20] ketika itu, separuh bagian utara Vietnam memiliki populasi yang lebih besar dibanding bagian selatan. Sebulan sebelumnya, Perdana Menteri Vietnam Utara Phạm Văn Đồng menulis ke Saigon menanyakan untuk membuka negosiasi atas rincian spesifik pemilihan itu. Sementara Amerika lebih senang untuk menghindari pemilihan karena takut akan kemenangan komunis, mereka berharap Diệm akan memasuki dialog atas hal perencanaan dan menunggu untuk Vietnam Utara berkeberatan terhadap proposalnya, dan kemudian menggunakannya untuk menyalahkan Ho karena menyalahi Persetujuan Jenewa.[20] Amerika sebelumnya memberi tahu Diệm, yang telah bertindak bertentangan dengan Bảo Đại, bahwa bantuan selanjutnya bergantung pada usaha Diệm menyusun dasar hukum untuk merebut kekuasaan kepala negara.[21]
Pada 6 Oktober 1955, Diệm mengumumkan bahwa referendum akan dilaksanakan pada 23 Oktober.[22] Pemilihan terbuka untuk pria dan wanita di atas umur 18 tahun, dan pemerintah mengatur agar ada satu tempat pemungutan suara untuk setiap 1.000 pemilih terdaftar.[22][23] Pemungutan suara diperebutkan oleh Bảo Đại, yang telah menghabiskan banyak waktunya di Perancis dan mengajukan bentuk monarki, dan Diệm, yang setuju pada bentuk republik.[1] Menurut sejarawan historian Jessica Chapman, itu adalah pilihan antara "kaisar usang negara itu dan perdana menterinya yang jauh dari populer, Ngo Dinh Diem".[b][24] Dalam pengumuman referendum, Diệm menggambarkan keputusannya sebagai hal yang termotivasi oleh cintanya terhadap demokrasi dan ketidakpuasan rakyat terhadap kekuasaan Bảo Đại. Perdana menteri itu mengutip banyak petisi dari berbagai macam kelompok sosial, keagaamaan, dan politik meminta dia untuk menyelenggarakan jajak pendapat untuk menurunkan Bảo Đại, mengklaim dia termotivasi oleh sentimen yang "absah dan demokratis" ini.[25] Lansdale memperingatkan Diệm atas kecurangan pemilu, yakin bahwa Diệm akan memenangkan pemilihan bebas: "Selagi aku pergi aku tidak ingin tiba-tiba membaca bahwa kau telah menang 99,99%. Aku tahu bahwa itu dicurangi."[c] Pejabat Amerika Serikat berpendapat bahwa pemilihan yang jujur membuat Diệm mendapatkan suara antara 60% hingga 70%.[1]
Di bawah Persetujuan Elysee dan undang-undang setelahnya yang membuat Negara Vietnam pada 1949, posisi Bảo Đại sebagai kepala negara tidak permanen dan tidak pasti. Kedaulatan dianggap ada hanya pada rakyatknya, dengan Bảo Đại hanya sebagai terusan. Hasilnya, referendum itu sendiri berada dalam koridor hukum.[26] Diệm ketika itu tidak dipilih untuk posisinya, sehingga dia melihat referendum sebagai peluang untuk menampik lawan-lawannya, yang mengklaim bahwa dia tidak demokratis dan otokratis. Peristiwa ini juga memberikan Diệm peluang untuk meningkatkan martabatnya dengan mengalahkan Bảo Đại dalam kompetisi satu lawan satu.[26] Sebelumnya hal ini disetujui bahwa Majelis Nasional akan dipilih terlebih dahulu, tetapi Diệm langsung melanjutkan pemungutan suara, yang berarti bahwa dia akan mendapatkan kekuasaan total jika dia menyingkirkan Bảo Đại sebelum lembaga legislatif dibentuk.[27]
Diplomat Amerika Serikat khawatir aksi ini akan dilihat sebagai perebutan kekuasaan, sebagaimana Diệm mengatur dan megnarahkan proses pemilihan yang padahal dia adalah salah satu calon. Mereka merasa bahwa lembaga legislatif seharusnya dibentuk terlebih dahulu dan bahwa lembaga itu seharusnya mengawasi referendum, tetapi Diệm mengabaikan saran ini.[23][28] Duta Besar G. Frederick Reinhardt memberi tahu Washington bahwa Diệm tidak ada niatan untuk membiarkan permainan ini jujur dan adil terhadap oposisinya, dan bahwa media luar negeri telah membuat banyak pernyataan demokratis Diệm menjadi facade.[28] Departemen Luar Negeri setuju dan memilih untuk menghindari menyiarkan referendum ini sebagai sebuah latihan dalam demokrasi karena takut akan memancing reaksi negatif untuk kebijakan luar negeri mereka.[29] Meksipun begitu, pejabat Amerika Serikat di Vietnam senang dengan referendum ini, sebagaimana mereka melihat hal ini sebagai peluang untuk memperkuat Vietnam Selatan dan menghindari kekalahan terhadap komunis karena mereka melihat republik sebagai bentuk yang lebih kuat.[30]
Setelah menyatakan penghinaannya terhadap pemilihan reunifikasi 1956, Diệm melihat referendum inni sebagai langkah awal dalam membuat negara jangka panjang untuk menguasai seluruh Vietnam Selatan. Dia berulang kali berkata bahwa pembuatan lembaga legislatif dan konstitusi untuk negara barunya ini menyusul setelah referendum.[28]
Diệm dilaporkan menganggap pemungutan suara ini sebagai peluang untuk melegitimasi dirinya sebagai simbol demokrasi Vietnam, sehingga dia dapat menyusun dan membenarkan penolakannya untuk terlibat dalam pemilihan nasional sebagai perjuangan antara kebebasan dan otoritarianisme komunis. Diệm menegaskan bahwa Vietnam Selatan pada akhirnya akan menyatukan diri dalam sebuah negara di bawah admisintrasi demokratis dan membebaskan teman sebangsa mereka di utara dari cengkraman komunis, dan memenangkan referendum sebagai langkah awal dalam memelihara demokrasi. Dasar dukungannya adalah untuk menggunakan hal ini sebagai sarana pembenaran atas penyingkiran Bảo Đại, mengutip keputusan yang lalu bahwa menurut mereka, pro-komunis.[20]
Salah satu tema utama Diệm adalah bahwa referendum akan mengantarkan ke dalam era demokrasi yang sebelumnya belum ada: "Hal ini hanyalah langkah awal yang dibuat rakyat kami dalam penggunaan bebas hak-hak politik kami."[d][25] Sehari sebelum pemungutan suara, Diệm berkata: "Tanggal 23 Oktober ini, untuk pertama kalinya dalam sejarah negara kita, pria dan wanita akan belajar satu dari banyak hak-hak sipil dasar dalam demokrasi, hak untuk memilih."[e][31] Pernyataan pemerintah empat hari sebelum pemungutan suara berisi: "Rekan-rekan yang terhormat, nyatakan keinginan Anda dengan tegas! Maju dengan sungguh-sungguh di jalan Kebebasan, Kemerdekaan, dan Demokrasi!"[f][31]
Kampanye
Diệm menjalankan kampanye hitam berupa serangan pribadi kepada kepala negara, yang kampanyenya dilarang.[32] Tentara dan kepolisian negara berkeliling memaksakan pelarangan atas kegiatan pro-Bảo Đại dan anti-Diệm.[33] Polisi berkeliling ke rumah-rumah, menjelaskan konsekuensi yang mengancam masyarakat jika tidak memilih.[18] Mereka menyelenggarakan pertemuan-pertemuan di desa terpencil dan memanggil khalayak ramai dengan pengeras suara. Pada umumnya, bentuk serangan Diệm adalah menggambarkan Bảo Đại sebagai mata keranjang pemabuk yang disibukkan dengan kesenangan tak bermoral dan tidak peduli dengan masalah masyarakat.[32][33][34] Tradisi monarkis Vietnam dibangun di atas Konghuchu dan Mandat Surga sang kaisar, dan kampanye Diệm mengklaim Bảo Đại telah kehilangan mandatnya melalui gaya hidupnya yang bejat.[34] Menurut Joseph Buttinger, yang ditempatkan di Vietnam sebagai second in command di International Rescue Committee, cara yang digunakan untuk mempengaruhi pemilihan "memalukan".[18] Donald Lancaster, wartawan yang memberitakan pemilihan itu, berkata "Meskipun Bao Dai diberikan kesempatan untuk mempertahankan dirinya, media yang dikuasai pemerintah melanjutkan untuk meliputi dia dengan caci maki yang keji."[g][35] Diệm kemudian melarang Bảo Đại memasuki Negara Vietnam.[36]
Iklan Diệm termasuk memamerkan giant pageant-style floats of Bảo Đại melalui jalan-jalan di Saigon, digambarkan dengan kantong uang di bahunya, a setumpuk kartu di tangannya, dan dengan wanita berambut pirang telanjang dan botol konyak di lengannya. Ini merujuk ke reputasi kepala negara tersebut atas kekayaan, suka berjudi, dan main perempuan.[32][33] Secara khusus, rambut pirang merujuk kepada kecondongan yang diakui Bảo Đại atas simpanannya yang dia berkomplot dengannya di French Riviera. Tiruan Bảo Đại ditemani oleh seorang pria Perancis yang memasukkan emas ke sakunya, dengan demikian mempertanyakan identitas nasionalisnya.[33] Poster dan Posters and gambar yang menghubungkan Bảo Đại dengan kepala babi disebarluaskan,[18] sementara surat kabar terkemuka membuat lagu yang menyinggung Bảo Đại dan mendorong untuk masyarakat menyanyikannya.[37]
Dinding dan kendaraan umum ditempel dengan slogan-slogan, termasuk "Hati-hati terhadap kesukaan raja jahat Bảo Đại akan perjudian, wanita, anggur, susu, dan mentega. Barangsiapa yang memilihnya mengkhianati negara mereka."[h][33] Di samping pengacuan kepada gaya hidup mewahnya, slogan lain seperti "Bao Dai, raja boneka yang menjual negaranya",[i] dan "Bao Dai, tuan penjaga sarang perjudian dan rumah bordil",[j][34] mengacu kepada tuduhan akan kelembutannya terhadap komunis. Radio digunakan untuk menyerang Bảo Đại secara lisan, yang dituduh atas pengkhianatan dan korupsi di siaran ini.[36]
Di sisi lain,On the other hand, Diệm digambarkan sebagai "pahlawan rakyat" dan "bapak seluruh anak-anak".[33] Slogan-slogan memaksa khalayak ramai untuk memilih perdana menteri ini karena "Memilih manusia revolusioner Ngo Dinh Diem adalah untuk membangun masyarakat yang sejahtera dan adil".[k] Mereka menggambarkan Diệm sebagai patriot dan anti-komunis nasionalis, menyatakan "Membunuh komunis, menyingkirkan raja, [dan] berjuang melawan kolonialis adalah tugas warga negara di Vietnam yang Bebas."[l][34]
Diệm's government-controlled press overwhelmed Bảo Đại with endless personal propaganda attacks, with special editions of newspapers being devoted to polemical biographical accounts of the former emperor.[18] This allowed Diệm's campaign to condemn Bảo Đại with much more salacious detail than was possible through mere slogans. This started in August when the daily newspaper Thoi Dai started a three-week series that disseminated unsubstantiated and scandalous details about Bảo Đại's life. These were written by editorialist Hong Van, who called Bảo Đại a "dung beetle who sold his country for personal glory".[34] Van claimed Bảo Đại was the illegitimate son of Emperor Khải Định, alleging Khải Định had been infertile and married a maid, before claiming the maid's son, by another man, as his own.[38] The paper claimed Bảo Đại was "big like a lubber, had many children, and was very fond of women" while Khải Định was uncomfortable with females, hinting that the different personalities were inconsistent with a common biological lineage.[37]
Capitalising on anti-French sentiment, the paper went on to discuss Bảo Đại's upbringing in France, claiming that he was already womanising as a teenager because of his European upbringing.[39] Bảo Đại later married an ethnic Vietnamese French citizen, who became Empress Nam Phương, who had been raised Catholic. The editorials accused her of being a French agent and claimed she had treated the queen mother badly,[39] a serious character flaw as Confucianism strongly emphasized respect for elders. Hong Van went on to claim that Bảo Đại's sequence of Gallic lovers was an indication that colonial officials were successfully using sex to turn the head of state into a puppet of France.[40]
The culmination of the newspaper campaign was a satirical pornographic cartoon, entitled "The Story of Bảo Đại".[41] It summarized the scandalous depictions of the head of state made by Thoi Dai in the preceding weeks and was published on 19 October, four days before the referendum.[42] The pictures featured full frontal nude depictions of Bảo Đại and his mistresses, with genitalia clearly visible, including a frame showing a naked blonde performing an erotic dance for the head of state.[41]
Aside from painting Bảo Đại as a sexually insatiable glutton, Diệm's campaign also attacked the head of state's nationalist credentials. They criticised him as being too soft in his dealings with French colonial authorities, and for serving as the head of state of the Empire of Vietnam, a puppet regime set up by Imperial Japan after they invaded during World War II.[40][43] They also accused him of ceding half the country to the communists.[40] The communists had already captured more than half the country on the battlefield,[44] and Diệm claimed he had no choice, but Diệm's campaign portrayed him as incompetent and unwilling to take the blame.[41]
Diệm used the Ministry of Information's electoral education campaign as a partisan political tool. Instead of using it purely to explain the democratic process, the campaign was used to extol Diệm and his allies.[45] After explaining what democracy was, a pamphlet outlined why Deposing a chief-of-state is a vital act.[31] After elaborating on the powers of the head of state, the pamphlet went on to champion Diệm as an anti-communist who could defend people's freedom, while explaining why Bảo Đại was unfit to lead, saying that he did not have respect among the international community.[31]
On 15 October, Bảo Đại issued a statement protesting against the referendum. He urged the governments of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, India and even the Soviet Union not to recognise Diệm, asserting that he was an obstacle to the reunification of Vietnam under the Geneva Accords.[18] He accused Diệm's poll of being "a governmental activity which conforms neither to the profound sentiment of the Vietnamese people nor to the common cause of peace".[21]
On 18 October, he made the token gesture of formally dismissing Diệm. The following day, he denounced "the police methods" of Diệm's "dictatorship" and warned the Vietnamese populace "against a regime that was bound to lead them to ruin, famine, and war". Bảo Đại accused Diệm of trying to foment conflict between the French and the Americans.[46] On the eve of the poll, Bảo Đại stated "I can even tell you that I know the percentage of favourable votes that Mr. Diem has decided to obtain."[18]
Oposisi lain
The staging of the election was subsidised by foreign funding. The United States government and a combination of American Roman Catholic charities contributed US$2 million each.[47]Ba Cụt, a leader of an anti-government Hòa Hảo religious sect, distributed a pamphlet condemning Diệm as an American puppet, citing the funding as proof and further asserting that Diệm was going to "Catholicize" the country.[48] The Vietnamese Socialist Party, which was affiliated to the Hòa Hảo, claimed Diệm had "bribed the world of laborers and young students to petition in support of Diem's rise to chief-of-state and to petition in favor of deposing Bao Dai", using the American election funding.[49] Another Hòa Hảo rebel leader, General Trần Văn Soái, assailed Diệm's undemocratic regime and declared the referendum illegal. He invited "friendly countries and the people of Vietnam to distrust this political maneuver". Diệm had earlier told a cabinet minister that there was only one political party – Nhu's outfit, and went about eradicating opposition by force.[49] Opponents claimed Diệm's declarations about the value of democracy were hollow.[48]
Logistik dan pemungutan suara
Lansdale advised Diệm to print his ballots in red, while those of Bảo Đại were printed in green. In Vietnam, red is associated with good luck and prosperity, whereas green is often associated with a cuckold and bad luck.[1][33][50] Diệm's red ballots pictured him with youthful and modern-looking people, while Bảo Đại's photo was placed in old-fashioned robes, which he never wore.[18] In addition, Bảo Đại's portrait showed him to appear dazed and bloated, while Diệm and those surrounding him were smiling and appeared to be energetic.[51] The ballot claimed that a vote for Diệm would be a vote for democracy, stating "I depose Bảo Đại and recognise Ngô Đình Diệm as Head of State, charged with the commission of setting up a democratic regime."[18][23][51] Bảo Đại's ballot read "I do not depose Bảo Đại and do not regard Ngô Đình Diệm as the Head of State charged with the commission of setting up a democratic regime."[18][51] The voters would place the red or green ballot into the box, according to their preference, while discarding the other, which meant the voting was actually not secret.[23]
The logistics of the referendum were organised and supervised by Diệm's brother and confidant, Nhu, who was the leader of the family's secret Cần Lao party, which supplied the Ngôs' electoral base. Reports of violence and intimidation were widespread. During the referendum, Nhu's staff told voters to throw away the green ballots. Those who disobeyed were often chased down and beaten, with pepper sauce and water sometimes being forced into their nostrils.[1][32] The violations were particularly flagrant in central Vietnam,[52] a region over which another of Diệm's younger brothers, Ngô Đình Cẩn, ruled.[53] Cẩn was based in the former imperial capital city of Huế, home of the Nguyễn Dynasty and a source of support for Bảo Đại. He stifled this support by ordering the police to arrest 1,200 people for political reasons in the week leading up to the vote.[52] In the city of Hội An, several people were killed in election violence on the day of the poll.[54] Voting started at 07:00 and ended at 17:00.[55]
Perhitungan suara dan hasil
Diệm's government formulated procedural regulations ostensibly designed to ensure results and ballots were correctly accounted for and to prevent election fraud. In reality however, the votes were counted without independent supervision, which resulted in Diệm being credited with 98.2% of the vote. The prime minister tallied 605,025 votes in Saigon, although only 450,000 voters were registered in the capital. Diệm's tally exceeded the registration numbers in other districts.[1][32] French newspapers claimed that only half of the registered voters in Saigon had actually voted, and that the rest had boycotted the election,[56] implying that more than 60% of the votes in the capital were not authentic. Defenders of Diệm claim this was due to recently arrived, mostly Catholic, refugees from North Vietnam who voted without being enrolled, rather than large-scale ballot stuffing.[54]
Diệm's regime had announced that 5,335,668 people were eligible to vote, but when the results were declared, there were 5,784,752 ballots.[55] Diệm's government claimed his candidacy had been endorsed by the mother of Bảo Đại, although Diệm had ordered the military to confiscate her family's property and evict her from the land.[57] The near unanimous voter turnout and support for Diệm was replicated in highland and Mekong Delta swamp areas, which were not even under the control of the government and its Vietnamese National Army.[58] In some districts of the Mekong Delta, overwhelming tallies for Diệm in excess of 90% of the registered voters were recorded,[59] even though the Hòa Hảo warlord Ba Cụt and his army had prevented voting.[18]
The referendum was widely condemned for being fraudulent.[52] Historian and writer Jessica Chapman said "Even Diệm apologists like Anthony Trawick Bouscaren and American CIA officer Edward Lansdale concur with the prime minister's harshest critics on the conclusion that the South Vietnamese government was either incapable of or unwilling to hold a truly free, representative plebiscite".[35] A CIA report written in 1966 adjudged the poll to be the most heavily manipulated in the first 11 years of South Vietnam's history.[45] The U.S. government privately concluded that the monopoly Diệm had on the media and the election campaign was a greater factor in the victory than intimidation and the fact that the voting was effectively public. Reinhardt cabled Washington, saying that the "referendum proved [a] resounding success for [the] Diem government".[45] He indicated that the poll results were not necessarily a reflection of reality by adding that the result did not show that Diệm had majority support but that he was able to control the country, effectively unchallenged. The U.S. government was heartened by Diệm's apparent ability to negate communist and other opposition.[45]
The scholar Bernard B. Fall stated that "there is not the slightest doubt that this plebiscite was only a shade more fraudulent than most electoral tests under a dictatorship".[58] The American journalist Stanley Karnow cited the dubious plebiscite as evidence of Diệm's "mandarin mentality".[1] Chapman wrote that "... no amount of unilateral campaigning, anti-Bảo Đại sentiment, or Confucian political restraint could explain Diệm's 98 percent margin of victory in a politically heterogeneous South Vietnam. Corruption and intimidation must have played a significant role."[60] Buttinger said that while the monarchy was "another rotten relic of Vietnam's past" and Bảo Đại "its last, unworthy representative", fraud and intimidation were unnecessary as Diệm would have won easily in any event.[35] Historian David Anderson said the victory "was not a true representation of Diệm's power or popularity. The emperor's weakness, the disarray of the political opposition, and other such factors explain his triumph".[30]
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
Monarchy | 63,017 | 1.09 |
Republic | 5,721,735 | 98.91 |
Invalid/blank votes | 0 | – |
Total | 5,784,752 | 100 |
Registered voters/turnout | 5,335,668 | 108.42 |
Source: Direct Democracy |
Tanggapan dan sesudahnya
Three days after the vote, Diệm proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Vietnam, naming himself as its president.[50] He said "The October 23rd plebiscite in which [the people of South Vietnam] took such an enthusiastic part, constitutes an approval of the policies pursued thus far and at the same time augurs a whole new era for the future of our country."[46] Diệm reiterated that he would not partake in national reunification elections, saying that they would be futile unless "true liberty" came about in the communist North Vietnam, which impressed American observers, who feared a total communist takeover.[60]
Having claimed the election was entirely without irregularities,[54] the United States government hailed Diệm as a new hero of the "free world".[18] Senator Mike Mansfield (D-MT) claimed the referendum "was a reflection of their [the Vietnamese people's] search for a leader who would respond to their needs ... they sensed that Diệm could provide that kind of leadership."[61] Mansfield had been a professor of Asian history before entering politics; as a result his opinions about Vietnam were more influential and held in high regard by his fellow senators.[62] Archives of policy discussions show that the Americans were concerned more about the negative image created by Diem's autocratic and antidemocratic style among the international community, rather than its possible effects on national cohesion.[63] The US State Department spokesman said "the people of Viet-Nam have spoken, and we, of course, recognise their decision".[61] An official congratulatory statement from the department said "The Department of State is gratified that according to reports the referendum was conducted in such an orderly and efficient manner and that the people of Viet-Nam have made their choice unmistakably clear ... we look forward to a continuation of the friendly relations between the Government of Viet-Nam and the United States."[64]
Reaction to Diệm's victory among the American press varied with geographic location.[45] Newspapers in the Midwest hailed Diệm's win as a triumph for democracy and extolled the new president as a champion of democracy. However, The New York Times said that the extreme margin of victory made "Diem's administrative control look more pervasive than is thought to be the case by a number of observers here."[60] However, the paper also obligingly claimed the poll a "sound democratic procedure" and a "public tribute to a strong-willed leader". Reader's Digest called it an "overwhelming endorsement" and dubbed Diệm a "beacon of light, showing the way to free people".[61]
Diệm's victory was seen as a blow to French stature in Vietnam, as the former colonial power had helped to set up Bảo Đại's State of Vietnam in 1949.[60] They consistently opposed Diệm and his policies, and unsuccessfully tried to impede him.[65] The U.S. media regarded Diệm's victory as a signal that the United States would be the only Western power in South Vietnam. Some felt that this would enable Diệm to rule effectively without French hindrance, while others felt that this would leave too much of a burden on the American government.[60] The French media and diplomatic corps viewed the result as a humiliation. Before the poll, French officials had privately predicted Diệm would dissolve the French High Command and use any victory as justification for scrapping the national reunification elections. The French media viewed the poll as undemocratic and a plot by the Americans to sabotage any prospect of national reunification, but France recognised the Republic of Vietnam soon after.[56]
Diệm severed economic relations with France on 9 December 1955, and withdrew from the French Union shortly afterwards. Neither the Soviet Union nor communist China overtly objected to Diệm's actions in creating a new state in the southern half of Vietnam.[66] Nevertheless, by the time of Diệm's deposal and assassination in 1963, France bought 46.3% of South Vietnam's exports and accounted for most of the foreign investment in the country.[67] French cultural influences and the language remained prevalent.[67]
In January 1956, with no legislature and constitution in place, Diệm used his absolute power to dissolve the Revolutionary Council by launching police raids on the members, forcing those from the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo who had rallied to his side to go on the run. As a result, they turned against him.[49]
Catatan
- ^ Asli: "We will not be tied down by the [Geneva] treaty that was signed against the wishes of the Vietnamese people."
- ^ Asli: "the country's obsolete emperor and its far-from-popular prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem".
- ^ Asli: "While I'm away I don't want to suddenly read that you have won by 99.99%. I would know that it's rigged then."
- ^ Asli: "This shall be but the first step made by our people in the free use of our political rights.""
- ^ Asli: "This 23 October, for the first time in our country's history, our men and women will exercise one of many basic civil rights of a democracy, the right to vote."
- ^ Asli: "Dear compatriots, proclaim your will forcefully! Go forward firmly in the path of Freedom, Independence and Democracy!"
- ^ Asli: "Whereas Bao Dai was given no opportunity to defend himself, the government-controlled press proceeded to overwhelm him with scurrilous abuse."
- ^ Asli: "Beware of the evil king Bảo Đại's preference for gambling, women, wine, milk, and butter. Those who vote for him betray their country."
- ^ Asli: "Bao Dai, puppet king selling his country"
- ^ Asli: "Bao Dai, master keeper of gambling dens and brothels"
- ^ Asli: "To vote for the revolutionary man Ngo Dinh Diem is to build a society of welfare and justice".
- ^ Asli: "To kill communists, depose the king, [and] struggle against colonialists is a citizen's duty in Free Vietnam."
Referensi
- ^ a b c d e f g Karnow, p. 239.
- ^ Tucker, p.366.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 37–42.
- ^ Maclear, pp. 65–68.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 43–53.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 20–26.
- ^ Karnow, p. 231.
- ^ Jacobs, p. 39.
- ^ Karnow, p. 234.
- ^ Jacobs, p. 61.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 22–25, 43, 60–61.
- ^ Karnow, p. 236.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 71–79.
- ^ Moyar, pp. 47–51.
- ^ Karnow, p. 238.
- ^ Chapman, p. 677.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Buttinger, pp. 890–92.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 678.
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, p. 694.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 679.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 697.
- ^ a b c d Miller, p. 206.
- ^ Chapman, p. 671.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 691.
- ^ a b Miller, p. 205.
- ^ Miller, pp. 204–06.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 695.
- ^ Chapman, pp. 695–96.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 673.
- ^ a b c d Chapman, p. 692.
- ^ a b c d e Jacobs, p. 95.
- ^ a b c d e f g Moyar, p. 54.
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, p. 684.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 672.
- ^ a b Brownell, p. 153.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 685.
- ^ Chapman, pp. 684–85.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 687.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 688.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 689.
- ^ Chapman, pp. 688–89.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Jacobs, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, p. 698.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 680.
- ^ Chapman, pp. 701–02.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 701.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 702.
- ^ a b Langguth, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Chapman, p. 696.
- ^ a b c Miller, p. 207.
- ^ Karnow, p. 246.
- ^ a b c Miller, p. 208.
- ^ a b Brownell, p. 154.
- ^ a b Chapman, p. 700.
- ^ Brownell, p. 157.
- ^ a b Fall, p. 257.
- ^ Moyar, p. 55.
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, p. 699.
- ^ a b c Brownell, p. 158.
- ^ Jacobs, p. 31.
- ^ Chapman, p. 703.
- ^ Brownell, p. 159.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 22–25, 43, 60, 61, 71–79.
- ^ Roberts, p. 115.
- ^ a b Roberts, p. 159.
Sumber
- Brownell, William (1963). The American Mandarin: a study of the life of Diem and of the origins of the American involvements. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
- Buttinger, Joseph (1967). Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled. Praeger Publishers.
- Chapman, Jessica (September 2006). "Staging Democracy: South Vietnam's 1955 Referendum to Depose Bao Dai". Diplomatic History. 30 (4). doi:10.1111/j.1467-7709.2006.00573.x.
- Fall, Bernard B. (1963). The Two Viet-Nams. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-8133-0092-4.
- Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8.
- Karnow, Stanley (1997). Vietnam: A history. New York City: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-84218-4.
- Langguth, A. J. (2000). Our Vietnam. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81202-9.
- Maclear, Michael (1981). Vietnam: The ten thousand day war. Methuen. ISBN 0-423-00580-4.
- Miller, Edward (2004). Grand Designs, Vision, Power and Nation Building in America's Alliance with Ngo Dinh Diem, 1954–1960. UMI.
- Moyar, Mark (2006). Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965. New York City: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86911-0.
- Roberts, Priscilla (ed) (2006). Behind the bamboo curtain: China, Vietnam, and the world beyond Asia. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-5502-7.
- Tucker, Spencer C. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-040-9.