 Diệm contended that the Communists would never allow free elections in the north , so therefore South Vietnam must strike out on its own and establish a separate , non @-@ Communist state . This was echoed by the Saigon press , which ran articles assailing communist elections as shambolic , rigged , and meaningless ; at the time , the northern half of Vietnam had a greater population than the south . A month earlier , North Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng wrote to Saigon asking to begin negotiations over the specific details of the elections . While the Americans were happy to avoid elections because of fears of a communist victory , they hoped that Diệm would enter the dialogue over planning matters and wait for North Vietnam to object to a proposal , and thus use it to blame Ho [ Chi Minh ] for violating the Geneva Accords . The Americans had earlier advised Diệm , who had been acting in defiance of Bảo Đại , that continued aid was contingent on Diệm establishing a legal basis for usurping the head of state 's power . 
