Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Vietnam has approved an amended constitution boosting the power and dominance of the Communist Party in the political, social and economic spheres.
Vietnam's parliament yesterday approved the new Charter, with 486 votes out of 488 in favour, and only two abstentions, no one against it.
All those - activists, intellectuals, Catholic bishops - who in recent months promoted reform initiatives in favour of a modern, multi-party democracy were disappointed.
Even with the new constitution, the Vietnamese will remain under the tight control of Communist leaders in Hanoi and local governments, with little hope for substantive change in human rights, freedom of thought, religion and land ownership.
With the new constitution reiterating (and reinforcing) the principle that the Communist Party is "the leading force in state and society", the government has dashed all prospects for reform, however timid they may have been.
At the start of the year, the authorities had made an unprecedented call for suggestions and proposals to change the constitution, eliciting a response from tens of thousands of citizens who proposed changes and innovations via the Net, nurtured by the illusion about a possible democratic change.
A key public demand called for the abolition of Article 4, a provision that protects the Communist Party's power, and for separation of powers between parliament, government and courts.
To the chagrin of many, including Vinh Bishop Mgr Paul Nguyen Thai Hop who had backed reform, this was not to be.
"This is a huge missed opportunity for reform that could have brought the nation's governance into closer alignment with the international human rights standards that Vietnam says it respects in word but routinely violates in practice," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of US-based Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.
Indeed, for some Vietnamese intellectuals, the National Assembly remains beholden to the Communist Party, certainly not the Vietnamese people.
By contrast, Vietnam's Communist leaders hailed the new constitution, calling its adoption an "historic moment", one that protects the Communist Party's monopoly of power at the expense of political movements.
Thus, challenging the authorities remains a "serious crime" for which dozens of activists have already been jailed.
Indeed, since early 2012, at least 65 peaceful dissidents and activists have been jailed, convicted in some 20 trials strongly condemned by international human rights organisations.
At least 75 prisoners of conscience are languishing in the country's prisons, often in harsh conditions.
Opponents and dissidents had only harsh words for the new charter. "The adoption of the constitution clearly shows that the National Assembly is beholden to Communist Party," someone wrote on the Dân Lam Bao website.
Various Catholic sites reacted the same way, noting that "the new Constitution will drive Vietnam over the abyss."
Even though Vietnam's president said yesterday was a 'beautiful day' to present the charter, for millions of Vietnamese this so-called beautiful day was filled with despair and unease over their country's future."