In October the Vietnam National Assembly will discuss how to make thefight against corruption more effective, Le Nhu Tien, Vice Chairman ofthe NA Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Children told TienPhong newspaper.
* At the 21st meeting of theNational Assembly Standing Committee, deputies agreed that in ourcountry corruption is rampant in all aspects of life. They described itas "an internal enemy". How do you respond to such a conclusion?
Many citizens have said during meetings with their National Assemblydeputies that they are not satisfied with the ongoing fight againstcorruption.
In the past, we often blamed theineffectiveness of the fight on the lack of legal documents or theincompleteness of the system. But now our legal system has beenconsolidated.
Anti-corruption offices have beenestablished from the central down to the grass roots level, and we haveinspection, investigation and auditing agencies working side by sidewith anti corruption offices.
Most significantly,the Party Central Committee's Home Affairs Commission has beenestablished alongside the Home Affairs Commissions in all 63 provincesand cities nation-wide.
In other words, we can say all forces are ready for the fight!
Transparency is key in the fight against corruption. Informationdisclosure is imperative so that people know what is going on. They are avery important force in the fight against corruption.
* But why is corruption still rampant in all corners of the country, particularly in the economic field?
I have to admit that our investment is very fragmented and not veryeffective. I also feel that we have not hit the enemy where it hurts.
National Assembly deputy Duong Trung Quoc once said:"We have engaged in the fight against the internal enemy –corruptpeople – but our bullets seem to miss their targets."
Many major corruption cases like those of Vinashin and Vinalines havestill not been settled, eroding the people's confidence in the Party andGovernment's resolve to curb corruption and restore law and order.
* In 2012, 73 corruption cases were detected, but only three caseswere brought to criminal courts, according to a government report.What's your response?
Under our anti-corruptionlaw, the head of an office has to take responsibility for any corruptioncases that occur in his or her office. However, in reality many of themhave cast off their responsibility and escaped from punishment.
Psychologically speaking, many top leaders don't want to air theirdirty laundry in public. That's why when a corruption case is detectedin an office, the head of the office tries to expose it to the publicrather than taking personal responsibility. This is one of the factorsmaking our fight against corruption difficult.
*Many corruption cases have been detected by inspectors. However, only afew cases have been transferred to investigative agencies. What's yourresponse?
As far as I know, in the past few years,more than 64,000 inspection missions were conducted nation-wide, butonly 464 cases were transferred to investigative agencies - accountingfor 0.6 per cent of all the cases.
In the firstmonths of 2013, 73 corruption cases involving 80 people were detected.But only 11 cases were transferred to investigative offices.
Based on these figures, I can say there is a tendency to applyadministrative (sanctions) to corruption cases, such as reprimandingguilty individuals or transferring them to other work.
In more serious cases, individuals were brought to court for trial,but they received such light sentences. The heaviest punishment was asuspended sentence. That's why Nguyen Sinh Hung, National AssemblyChairman, asked: "Is there corruption within the anti-corruptionoffices?" That question is still open.
* Under theanti-corruption law, all public employees have to declare their incomeand assets. In 2012, more than 113,000 people made their firstdeclarations, more than 519,000 revised their previous declarations andonly three declarations were verified as correct. What are yourcomments?
Such a declaration is only a formality.People are asked to declare their assets and incomes, yet theirdeclarations are put in the office filing cabinet.
If there is no information disclosure, asset and income declarationswill not make any difference. People could easily write anything theywanted.
If we really want to use asset and incomedeclaration as a bullet to fire at the enemy (i.e. corrupt individuals),the declarations must be posted publicly.-VNA
* At the 21st meeting of theNational Assembly Standing Committee, deputies agreed that in ourcountry corruption is rampant in all aspects of life. They described itas "an internal enemy". How do you respond to such a conclusion?
Many citizens have said during meetings with their National Assemblydeputies that they are not satisfied with the ongoing fight againstcorruption.
In the past, we often blamed theineffectiveness of the fight on the lack of legal documents or theincompleteness of the system. But now our legal system has beenconsolidated.
Anti-corruption offices have beenestablished from the central down to the grass roots level, and we haveinspection, investigation and auditing agencies working side by sidewith anti corruption offices.
Most significantly,the Party Central Committee's Home Affairs Commission has beenestablished alongside the Home Affairs Commissions in all 63 provincesand cities nation-wide.
In other words, we can say all forces are ready for the fight!
Transparency is key in the fight against corruption. Informationdisclosure is imperative so that people know what is going on. They are avery important force in the fight against corruption.
* But why is corruption still rampant in all corners of the country, particularly in the economic field?
I have to admit that our investment is very fragmented and not veryeffective. I also feel that we have not hit the enemy where it hurts.
National Assembly deputy Duong Trung Quoc once said:"We have engaged in the fight against the internal enemy –corruptpeople – but our bullets seem to miss their targets."
Many major corruption cases like those of Vinashin and Vinalines havestill not been settled, eroding the people's confidence in the Party andGovernment's resolve to curb corruption and restore law and order.
* In 2012, 73 corruption cases were detected, but only three caseswere brought to criminal courts, according to a government report.What's your response?
Under our anti-corruptionlaw, the head of an office has to take responsibility for any corruptioncases that occur in his or her office. However, in reality many of themhave cast off their responsibility and escaped from punishment.
Psychologically speaking, many top leaders don't want to air theirdirty laundry in public. That's why when a corruption case is detectedin an office, the head of the office tries to expose it to the publicrather than taking personal responsibility. This is one of the factorsmaking our fight against corruption difficult.
*Many corruption cases have been detected by inspectors. However, only afew cases have been transferred to investigative agencies. What's yourresponse?
As far as I know, in the past few years,more than 64,000 inspection missions were conducted nation-wide, butonly 464 cases were transferred to investigative agencies - accountingfor 0.6 per cent of all the cases.
In the firstmonths of 2013, 73 corruption cases involving 80 people were detected.But only 11 cases were transferred to investigative offices.
Based on these figures, I can say there is a tendency to applyadministrative (sanctions) to corruption cases, such as reprimandingguilty individuals or transferring them to other work.
In more serious cases, individuals were brought to court for trial,but they received such light sentences. The heaviest punishment was asuspended sentence. That's why Nguyen Sinh Hung, National AssemblyChairman, asked: "Is there corruption within the anti-corruptionoffices?" That question is still open.
* Under theanti-corruption law, all public employees have to declare their incomeand assets. In 2012, more than 113,000 people made their firstdeclarations, more than 519,000 revised their previous declarations andonly three declarations were verified as correct. What are yourcomments?
Such a declaration is only a formality.People are asked to declare their assets and incomes, yet theirdeclarations are put in the office filing cabinet.
If there is no information disclosure, asset and income declarationswill not make any difference. People could easily write anything theywanted.
If we really want to use asset and incomedeclaration as a bullet to fire at the enemy (i.e. corrupt individuals),the declarations must be posted publicly.-VNA
