The story of the officer who checks integrity and decency

A model officer

When I returned to Yen Thanh District Party Committee, Mr. Hoan had been working here for several years (1983). At that time, he worked in the Organizing Committee, then transferred to become a Standing Member of the Inspection Committee from 1986 to 1992, he was elected to the Standing Committee, as Chairman.Inspection Committee2 terms.

Before joining the Yen Thanh District Party Committee, Mr. Hoan had a glorious youth. He was originally from Dien Nguyen Commune (Dien Chau), and followed his family to the new economic zone in Nghia Dong Commune (Tan Ky). After graduating from the Agricultural College, he became a technical officer of the cooperative, actively participated in the Youth Union, and at one point served as the Standing Committee of the District Youth Union, then was assigned to lead a group of porters serving the transportation of goods to the front line. In 1977, he joined the Executive Committee of the Tan Ky District Party Committee and was appointed Head of the Agriculture Department before being sent to reinforce the border districts in Dak Lak Province in 1979.

Portrait of Mr. Le Van Hoan.

After 2 years in Dak Lak province, he returned to the Organizing Committee of Tan Ky District Party Committee and then asked to return to his wife's hometown in Yen Thanh to serve the Party and mass organizations until his retirement. The Yen Thanh District Party Committee office in the late 80s was a few rows of simple level 4 houses, next to rice fields, the houses of the committees were next to each other. At that time, there was no concept of "group coordination" between cadres of the Propaganda, Inspection, and Organization Committees when they were sent on business trips together.

At that time, we included: I - Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department in charge of history; Mr. Le Van Hoan - Deputy Head of the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee; Mr. Nguyen Trung - Deputy Head of the District Party Committee's Organization Department were sent to Tan Ky to verify Mr. Nguyen Khac Nhiep's file regarding his request to be recognized as a revolutionary veteran. The three of us cycled through Quang Thanh (Yen Thanh), Giang Son (Do Luong) to Tan Ky. The closer we got to the district office in Lat town, the steeper and longer the slope became, and we pedaled until we were out of breath. We were warmly and respectfully welcomed by the Tan Ky District Party Committee. The work of verifying Mr. Nhiep's file was very difficult because he was born in Yen Thanh but had been active in the revolution in Tan Ky from 1935 to 1939. Searching for files and evidence was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We had to go to the base, meet with veteran party members, hold verification meetings... the work lasted a whole week. Surprisingly, wherever we went, the people in Tan Ky created favorable conditions for us to work and I saw that even though he had moved to Yen Thanh for many years, the feelings of the cadres and people of Tan Ky towards Mr. Hoan were still very close and sincere. Many people still wondered to him: "Why did you move to another place when you were doing a good job in Tan Ky?". Everyone respected his feelings and personality, so they helped us to successfully complete the assigned work.

The dossier on Mr. Nhiep was fully collected, the Standing Committee of Tan Ky District Party Committee - Standing Committee of Yen Thanh District Party Committee met to verify, unanimously proposed the superiors to recognize Mr. Nguyen Khac Nhiep as a veteran cadre. After that trip, I joked with my brothers: "We have 3 deputy heads of department working more than 1 head of department thanks to the former Head of Tan Ky Le Van Hoan".

Phan Dang Luu Square - Yen Thanh town. Photo: Nguyen Sach

A courageous and upright officer

The trip to Tan Ky with Mr. Hoan left a good first impression on me. It must have been because when he was in Tan Ky, Mr. Hoan was kind to his comrades and colleagues, so even though he had gone elsewhere, he still left a good reputation. After that, both he and I joined the Standing Committee for many years, and were also able to participate in discussing and discussing many of the district's affairs. I saw his straightforward, outspoken, and sometimes a bit stubborn personality clearly revealed. Normally, Mr. Hoan was quiet and rarely spoke, but every time he had an opinion, he attracted the attention of the whole meeting because heprofessional, proficient in inspection work, grasping events, and being a solid person, his opinions often have weight and the power to convince the entire conference. I remember one time there was a meeting of the District Party Committee Standing Committee to discuss personnel work.

That time, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and the Organizing Committee of the District Party Committee consulted with the Standing Committee to propose promoting a cadre in charge of commune N. to the position of head of a department in the district. Normally, before the comrades in the Standing Committee (including the Secretary, the Standing Deputy Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, the Chairman of the District) and the Head of the Organizing Committee agreed, when presenting the matter to the Standing Committee, most of the Standing Committee members agreed, but that time, in the case of comrade N., some comrades in the Standing Committee requested reconsideration. However, the Secretary of the District Party Committee continued to explain and persuade all the comrades in the Standing Committee to agree with the proposal of the Organizing Committee.

At that time, I saw Mr. Hoan asking to express his opinion. He said:“I agree with the opinion of some Standing Committee members who suggested that the Standing Committee and the Organizing Committee not promote Comrade N. this time, because in the past, he still had some shortcomings that had not been overcome in the commune. Through the recent inspection of Party membership, I see that there are many unfavorable opinions. It may be difficult for the upcoming Commune Party Congress to elect him to the Commune Party Committee because he no longer has enough prestige. If the Standing Committee now decides to withdraw him to the district, it will not set a good example for the grassroots and will be counterproductive, because for a long time we have often nominated excellent and outstanding cadres from advanced and excellent localities to supplement the district-level departments and offices. Now we cannot do that. I know that when the Standing Committee votes on Comrade N., the number of votes may exceed 50%, because I know that this comrade has come to lobby each Standing Committee member, including my house, but I have clearly explained to him my opinion. According to the principle of democratic centralism, the minority must obey the majority, but in this case, I earnestly request that in today's meeting, the Standing Committee should stop voting on the case of comrade N. If my proposal is not accepted, I reserve my opinion and immediately after this meeting, I will write a request to the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee to allow me to resign from the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and I will fully present the reasons with clear evidence and address.

As soon as Comrade Le Van Hoan finished speaking, some people agreed, some were surprised. Personally, I agree with Mr. Hoan and admire his courage, his integrity, the "stubbornness" of a Nghe An native who dared to risk his political life to defend his own views, defend the truth, defend what is right.

After Mr. Hoan spoke, the District Party Secretary concluded that this conference temporarily suspended the consideration of withdrawing comrade N. to the district. The incident was not mentioned again afterwards, but Mr. Hoan's reaction predicted the weakness in personnel work of the Party Committee's leaders.

Officials of the Yen Thanh District Party Committee's Inspection Committee review inspection and supervision programs. Photo: Minh Chi

Mentioning a few memories to recall a time, a person who used to be attached to me in the warm office. After 2000, Mr. Hoan was assigned to be the Chairman of the District Farmers' Association. Coming to the Farmers' Association, he received a little more allowance thanks to the farmers' pension benefits, his father and son's life was better but he was still the same, simple, honest, gentle, quiet but frank and strict. During meetings, with a "little reward", he invited us over to drink, and mentioned the memorable memories of the days of sharing hardships, sharing joys and sorrows at the District Party Committee office. Although not everything was good, every time I returned to the District Party Committee office, I remembered the beautiful impressions of comrades who kept their personalities clean amidst the dust of life...