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Part of Saigon Reshuffle In the Works

extracted text

Saigon Reshuffle
In the Worl{s
By Beverly DeepeD

days of discussions with Premier Ky, Gen. Thieu and oth. SAIGON.
ers in Hawaii.
The South Vietnameset reSome American officials are
) gime plans a moderate shake- known to approve or at least
, up of the national cabinet not disapprove the plans but
and of the field command many low-ranking American
1
of the armed forces. A :major officia,ls in the provinces ",;;;,·
rearrangement of the struc- sistently 'have argued tnai; at
ture of government also is least six months' time is lost
witlh the transfer of a province
in the works.
chief or division commander.
The changes-expected to
In the last two years, the
be announced officially with- Vietnamese government and
in thet next week-will not the military command have
affect the status of Chief of been ,beset with personnel
change.s. They are believed to
State Nguyen Van Thieu or have impeded the war and
Premier Nguyen Cao Ky.
rural pacification efforts.
Both the cabinet and the
But poJ.itical necessity, or at
which is the actual basis of least political pres.sures, are
the government-held meet- considered great by governings late last week to work ment leaders.
out details. Reliable sources
"The government hope.s to
say these changes are under buy time by making these
consideration:
changes," one Vietnamese
crousting two or three of source said. "It 1s attempting
the cabinet's 15 ministers to keep one step ahead of the
and naming new ones.
people's dissatisfaction with
CICreating at least three the local situation-especially
new ministries-possibly in- inflation."
dustry, trade and supply.
The consumer retail price
CINaming an 80-man national consultative council, index, which usually drops in
which may eventually re- the period after the Lunar
call or supplant the junta as New Year, has continued to
the leg,al base of government. rise sharply in the last two
Premier Ky has announced weeks.
Major politl'cal and religious
publicly that a consultatative
council will be formed and, groups outside the government
after thorough local discus- are waiting for announcement
sions, a new constitution of the con.sultative body's
membership. They hope either
drafted.
The changes come at a, to exploit or to attack it, Viettime when American officials namese sources say.
Considerable anti-war, antiare expressing pleasure at the
stability of the regime, and as American political forces President Johnson and a large possibly pushed by Communist
group of his advisors are dem- subversives-are known to be
onstrating America's keen in- lurking beneath the apparterest in Vietnamese govern- ently calm of South Viet
ment affairs by holding three Nam's political waters.

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