HANOI Communist Vietnam intends to tread carefully with its economic opening despite the ouster of conservative ideologue Le Kha Phieu from the party leadership, leading reformers within the regime said Saturday.

The government was determined to avoid at all costs the sort of political turmoil which had rocked the rest of Southeast Asia in the wake of the financial crisis of 1997-8, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai told reporters.

It would therefore be very cautious about opening up the state-run economy too quickly for fear of exposing it to external shocks, said Khai, who is generally regarded as Vietnam's leading reformer.

"You may know that in some countries when they had a crisis in the economy, it caused political instability. Vietnam is trying to avoid that," he said.

"The lesson learned from the crisis in some countries is that you should build an independent economy with sustainable development.

"If we only rely on external resources then, when we meet difficulties we may have a chaotic situation in the economy and it may lead to political instability."

Khai's comments were echoed by his principal aide, First Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung.

"The reforms must be linked to stability, otherwise we will fail," he said.

The deputy prime minister stressed that the authorities were determined to press ahead with the reforms in a bid to double gross domestic product over the next decade.

"But we have take account of reality and the concrete situation," he added.

"These reforms are going slowly because Vietnam suffered so much during the war years and GDP per head still stands at less than 400 dollars."

Vietnam itself experienced a wave of rural unrest in the midst of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 to 1998.

In December 1997 the ruling Communist Party elected conservative ideologue and lifelong army commissar Le Kha Phieu as its leader in a move which was widely seen as an attempt to batten down the hatches in the face of the turmoil.

But in the event Phieu failed to prevent even more serious unrest sweeping the mainly Christian minorities of the central highlands earlier this year, sparking an Army crackdown and widespread international human rights criticism.

The 69-year-old party chief is to pay the price for his failings, becoming the first secretary general in the party's 71-year history not to complete a full five-year term.

He was due to be replaced by Parliament Speaker Nong Duc Manh in a rubber-stamp poll later Saturday in which there was only one candidate, party sources told AFP.

The ouster of the conservative Phieu after a bruising months-long power struggle has been widely seen as a major boost to reform.

"It is not only me but other leaders and other members of the party who are looking forward to accelerated reforms," Luong told reporters Friday.

Even though Manh himself is not a reformer but someone with links to both Vietnam's rival ideological camps, the ouster of Phieu and the wounding of other conservatives around him has boosted the influence of reformers within the regime.

But the continuing unrest in the countryside -- particularly the protests in the highlands which the Communist authorities regard as a separatist uprising -- have created immense pressure for stability to be maintained at all costs amid the internal political feuding.

Khai's predecessor, Vo Van Kiet, told reporters Saturday that his 67-year-old protege would remain in office at least until September 2002 precisely to maintain stability.

The rejuvenation of the leadership which had motivated the ouster of Phieu should not be pushed through too quickly, he said.

"The adjustments we have made must be step-by-step, according to AFP.