Fighting corruption, a ward Party Secretary was once dismissed

Having been terrorized, threatened and even dismissed, the Party Secretary still persevered in fighting corruption to the end.

Fighting corruption is a hot front, many people know about the wrongdoings but are afraid of those in positions of power, causing the fight against corruption to become a formality in many places. However, there are still people who bravely fight to get to the truth, they have suffered many disadvantages, including losing their positions and powers.

Mr. Pham Thanh Binh, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Nghia Do Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi City is one of such people.

The Ai pond land (next to West Lake), with an area of ​​21,000 m2, was assigned to Mr. Vuong Ba Lai for management by the People's Committee of Nghia Do Ward, Cau Giay District more than 30 years ago. According to the documents, Mr. Vuong Ba Lai manages that land and when there is a change, the People's Committee of Nghia Do Ward must notify Mr. Lai.

However, over the past 30 years, the land managed by Mr. Vuong Ba Lai has been gradually shrinking. Many households around the Ai pond area have brazenly encroached on the land and built houses on the area Mr. Lai is cultivating. Many times, Mr. Vuong Ba Lai sent petitions to the People's Committee of Nghia Do Ward requesting specific verification of the remaining land and procedures so that he does not have to pay taxes on uncultivated land, but it was only when Mr. Pham Thanh Binh took the position of Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of the ward that everything was resolved.

Mr. Vuong Ba Lai said: “When Mr. Pham Thanh Binh was Secretary, after reading my petitions, Mr. Binh came to see me immediately. Mr. Pham Thanh Binh was a soldier, with a fighting spirit. When Mr. Binh was Secretary, he resolved many cases of blatant land encroachment. Mr. Binh is someone I trust, he was determined to resolve them and he did.”

Working in Nghia Do ward in 1992, for the 2005-2010 term, Mr. Binh was elected as Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of the ward. Here, the urbanization rate was fast, the State reclaimed a large part of the agricultural land area in the ward. Officials were lax, leading to many violations, typically the act of "protecting" the encroachment of public land, legalizing public land, using land for the wrong purpose... leading to citizens' complaints and denunciations not being resolved because of "cover-up".

Right in the first term, the Party Congress of Nghia Do Ward issued a Resolution, pointing out 14 cases of land violations with signs of corruption in the area. Mr. Pham Thanh Binh struggled day and night to find a solution to carry out this extremely difficult task. In the time of "every inch of land is gold", exposing land violations is extremely sensitive, but Mr. Pham Thanh Binh is determined to follow the will of the Party and the people.

Difficulties began to “reveal”, key leaders such as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Ward People’s Committee, the Director of the Agricultural Cooperative… avoided, pushed aside, even colluded to cover up negativity and corruption. Therefore, the backlog of cases not only were not handled promptly but also new violations arose.

Mr. Pham Thanh Binh confided: “Fighting against negativity and corruption is a fierce struggle in both ideology and action. I am a soldier, before on the battlefield, the enemy in front of me was flesh and blood, I could shoot. But I cannot do that with the corrupt enemy. Sometimes it is my comrade, the person right next to me. So I get discouraged, if I step back, I can be crushed, so I never think I will step back.”

Determined, diligently directing and regularly reporting to Cau Giay District Party Committee for guidance, however, Mr. Pham Thanh Binh's passionate opinions did not receive support from the District Party Committee's leaders at that time. Not only that, he was also accused by his superiors of "causing" internal disunity and was criticized...

Determined not to give up, he reported the incident to the former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee. Faced with mixed public opinions, a troubled family life, and pressure, Mr. Binh sometimes felt discouraged and gave up… But with the courage of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and the trust from the people, he could not surrender.

Joining Mr. Binh in the fight against corruption are many other Party members in Nghia Do ward. Veteran Phan Van Do said that with the nature of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, they always stick together and are not discouraged in the fight against corruption.

“In this struggle, Mr. Pham Thanh Binh is the leader of a locality. The struggle must have a direction and a resolution to be successful. In his position, Mr. Pham Thanh Binh has a policy to fight against the management of occupied land. Secondly, Mr. Binh dares to take responsibility for signing documents sent to higher levels, resolutely implementing the issues requested by the Party and local people.”

After receiving Mr. Pham Thanh Binh's letter, the Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee immediately directed Cau Giay District to thoroughly handle the issues mentioned in the letter. Mr. Binh was again under pressure from some officials of Cau Giay District who claimed that he had violated the Party's Charter and violated discipline. On June 16, 2008, he received a notice of resignation because he was... past retirement age. During that time, there were times when he and his family were threatened, insulted, and even assaulted by bad people.

Mr. Binh recalled: “That negative, corrupt network linked up with bad elements and gangsters to terrorize and threaten me. For two consecutive nights, they used dirty bombs made of shrimp paste mixed with lubricating oil, then threw dirty substances into my house; they even brought knives to my house to curse me.”

Despite being persecuted, Mr. Pham Thanh Binh refused to back down. He and other party members met with the Chairman of the Hanoi Fatherland Front to ask for opinions on the issue of gaining confidence in the position elected by the People's Council. At the same time, they coordinated with press agencies to fight against corruption and negativity. The efforts of Mr. Pham Thanh Binh and other party members were recognized. The Hanoi Party Committee sent two working groups to directly verify the case. After 10 months of inspection, on July 8, 2010, the Hanoi People's Committee had the results of the inspection of land management and use at 9 locations in Nghia Do ward.

The inspector concluded that most of what Mr. Pham Thanh Binh and the people had raised were well-founded, and at the same time, he reviewed and transferred a number of other related officials. On May 5, 2010, Mr. Pham Thanh Binh was reinstated as Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Do Ward. He lived in the trust and love not only of the people of Nghia Do Ward but also the admiration of many people who were dedicated to the arduous fight against corruption.

“If we cannot protect those who fight against corruption, we cannot launch a movement to fight corruption and negativity widely among the people and the entire political system. Without a protection mechanism, people will be afraid to fight and face corrupt and negative people, because they know they will be persecuted in every way. At the same time, we must reward those who fight against negativity so that they feel that they are receiving proper attention and timely reward mechanisms,” Mr. Pham Thanh Binh worried./.

According to VOV