Lawlessness

(Baonghean) - The September 18 report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment to the Government stated that the deadline for periodic information disclosure is May 2016, but to date only 44/432 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have disclosed information on production and business situation according to Decree 81/2015/ND-CP dated September 18, 2015 of the Prime Minister.

Illustrative photo of traffic violations (not wearing helmets)

In particular, all 31 economic groups and state-owned corporations failed to fully and timely fulfill their responsibility to disclose information... The result is that only 10% of state-owned enterprises disclosed information as prescribed, showing a lack of seriousness in fulfilling their responsibility to disclose information and an alarming message about the lawlessness that seems to be a common and deeply rooted disease in the state-owned enterprise system.

Looking at other fields, we also see the same situation: In construction, there is the construction of magnificent private works in protected forests, forestry land and public lands without permission; construction is dozens of floors higher than the license, even when there is an order to stop construction but the investor still ignores it. In market management, there is the situation of counterfeit goods, fake goods, low-quality goods and the abuse of growth stimulants despite copyright regulations and legal regulations and signed commitments on food hygiene and safety. The situation of imposing taxes on the wrong subjects and tax exemptions and reductions not in accordance with regulations; granting project licenses beyond authority and spending on public investment despite the norms and regulations issued not yet dry ink... All of this creates the impression that the law exists as if it does not exist???

The chronic disease of lawlessness has been, is and will continue to occur in all forms, levels and scales; the result is a stagnant and inefficient economy; the role of the rule of law State has not been achieved.

In particular, the situation of lawlessness increases the extremely worrying pressure of state budget deficit, public debt, unemployment, the risk of forests gradually drying up, seas gradually dying, rivers increasingly drying up, salinization, pollution of land and living environment, reducing economic growth momentum...

We are becoming so familiar that we are numb to the "reverse process" of state management, where subordinates impose the rules of the game on superiors when forced into a "fait accompli" situation: that is, the National Assembly regularly accepts having to approve an actual deficit that is always higher than the annual budget deficit approved by the National Assembly.

That is the situation where local authorities exceed their authority to handle and grant licenses to FDI enterprises and then "run the process" to legalize their decisions, regardless of the long-term and enormous consequences for society, reducing the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of the socialist rule-of-law state that Vietnam is striving towards.

Our country's environment and resources are being exploited to the limit. Vietnam's legal system is growing, but awareness and compliance habits, the actual effectiveness of the laws seem to be fading, or being disabled due to negligence, indifference, irresponsibility and the increasingly strong influence of interest groups, and the weakness of many agencies in the government apparatus.

Opening up and effectively coordinating new, more sustainable growth drivers, first of all from institutional breakthroughs, tightening discipline, and respecting the law, is really what needs to be done, not only to fuel economic growth in the second half of this year, but also to accelerate and improve the efficiency of economic development, strengthen social security, and protect the living environment according to the requirements of sustainable development in the coming time.

PV