Running for office, running for power: Former National Assembly member worries about "seat bidding" problem

At the 8th session of the 13th National Assembly (2014), Mr. Le Nam questioned the Minister of Home Affairs about the practice of buying positions, power, and payroll with the following rhymes: "Descendants, money, same system, valid, intelligence". According to you, is this situation still as painful as you said?

I see initial change but not fundamental change.

We must resolutely fight against the abuse of power and position. The most dangerous is the corruption of power, but in the legal system, there is almost a gap in dealing with this special type of corruption. The abuse of power and position is considered the work of the Party, the Organizing Committee, and the Inspection Committee.

In my opinion, those who seek positions and power must be imprisoned, brought to court, and their illegal assets obtained from seeking positions and power must be confiscated.
There must be an institution for public agencies to proactively fight against the abuse of power and position, regardless of who it is. Only then will people be afraid and not dare to seek power and position.

Running for office as a super profitable investment channel

Some recent cases of handling cadres related to cadre work such as the transfer of Trinh Xuan Thanh, the rapid appointment of Ms. Quynh Anh in Thanh Hoa, the Nguyen Xuan Anh case... According to you, have they answered the question posed by the General Secretary: "Who is running, running from whom"?

I think that the recent incidents have created positive changes, first of all in terms of awareness. Through these incidents, Party committees and leaders at all levels have more or less clearly recognized the current situation. From there, they are required to make changes in their working methods to prevent the practice of seeking positions and power within Party and State agencies.

However, I think that this is just dealing with the manifestations of a very serious situation in some specific cases to prove that the assessment of the Party, the State, and the leaders is correct. The pursuit of power and position is not only public opinion but also specific cases, with specific people.

Through that, we can clearly see the seriousness of the problem of buying positions and power. I think the root cause, the deep, fundamental problems, are still ahead.

Some people say that the current practice of buying and selling positions and power is not limited to "buying and selling positions" but has reached a new level, as you wrote on your Facebook, many people call it "bidding" for seats, how do you view this?

This shows that the situation of buying positions and power is getting worse. At first, people spend money to buy a position they want to achieve many personal goals.

But when there are many people who want and are willing to spend money to get into a certain position with money, relationships, and emotions, then the game has become a "competition", a "race" in the dark, whoever is stronger wins.

In economic terms, it is a “bidding”. This is a way of describing the abuse of power and position at a level that is not public but not hidden anymore.

Here is a story that has been told many times on the National Assembly forum, that is, people consider running for positions, running for power, and bidding for positions as an "investment" channel that brings in huge profits.

Should not be closed in the Party

According to you, can position and power itself generate enough money and benefits to make many people choose it as a channel for "investment" like that?

In essence, authority does not generate money. Authority does not create power for any individual, but it is the power of the people, the Party, the State given to a specific person. However, they have transformed and corrupted that authority to generate money.

When power is corrupted, power naturally generates money and many positions become super-profitable positions. Once they sit in that position, they don't have to do anything, money just comes naturally.

Therefore, it becomes a super profitable "investment" channel, without even having to worry about headaches, brain aches, loss of appetite, or sleeplessness to calculate business.

Do you have any advice to help the General Secretary and the Central Organizing Committee control the evil of buying and selling of positions and power?

With the project proposed by the Central Organizing Committee, first of all, I see the desire and determination for innovation and the people, cadres and party members welcome it.

In my opinion, first of all, the work of cadres must be truly open and transparent. Elections and examinations must be one of the fundamental solutions in appointing, promoting, and introducing cadres to run for office. Personnel selection must be broad and not closed within the Party in order to select talented people to take up positions.

There must be a breakthrough solution based on the people to fight against the abuse of power and position. No matter what is said, power belongs to the people, not to anyone else, even the Party is authorized by the people and exercises its power according to the people's authority.

For example, we have elected bodies, so how can we ensure that personnel decisions of the National Assembly and People's Councils are truly powerful decisions? Competition, openness, and transparency in personnel work must not only be revealed within the Party but also before the National Assembly and People's Councils.

If the Party innovates its personnel work, the Party can still exercise its leadership but still promote the power of elected bodies in the right to perform personnel work.

Or rely on the Fatherland Front and organizations, how to get them to participate in discussing and supervising personnel in a substantive way before the Party or competent authorities decide on personnel.