'People know clearly whether officials are good or bad, corrupt or not'

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc emphasized when mentioning the supervision of people and society on cadres and party members.

At the 4th Central Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee taking place in Hanoi, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized the need to discuss and issue resolutions on strengthening Party building and rectification, preventing and repelling the degradation of political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party.

In an interview, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc, former Director of the Institute of Party History, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said that it is necessary to tighten Party discipline and have a mechanism to control power and prevent corruption among cadres and Party members.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc, former Director of the Institute of Party History, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. Photo: Quang Trung

Mr. Nguyen Trong Phuc:The degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle is not a new issue, but was raised by our Party very early in the process of innovation. Resolution 3 of the 7th Central Committee (June 1992), Resolution 6 of the 8th Central Committee (2nd time) (1999), and the 4th Central Committee Conference of the 11th Central Committee (January 2012) have all mentioned this issue.PV: What are the manifestations of the current state of ideological, moral and lifestyle degradation among party members and officials, sir?

The 4th Central Conference of the 12th tenure discussed in depth the prevention and repression of ideological, moral and lifestyle degradation; the manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party, which shows that this situation is very serious. Although we have implemented the Resolution of the 4th Central Conference of the 11th tenure, the results have not been as expected, this situation has not been prevented and repressed, and may cause unpredictable consequences.

The manifestations of ideological, political, moral and lifestyle degradation can be summarized in four issues. First, a number of cadres and party members, including leaders and managers at all levels, have lost their revolutionary ideals; they lack the necessary courage and understanding of Marxist-Leninist theory and Ho Chi Minh thought.

Second, there are behaviors, words, and actions that are contrary to the Party's policies, viewpoints, and platforms. Some people even assist and collude with hostile forces.

Third, the decline in morality, character as well as violation of communist ethical standards. One can see a part of the manifestation of individualism, only seeking personal benefits, family benefits with little concern for the common problems of the country and the people. From individualism leads to acts of corruption, waste, and group interests.

Fourth, indulgence, lack of training, falling into the path of debauchery and indifference to the people.

As the General Secretary emphasized at the conference, we must pay close attention to strengthening Party discipline and protecting internal politics to prevent the degradation of political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party. In particular, protecting internal politics plays a very important role in preventing the process of self-transformation and self-evolution among Party members and cadres. How leaders manage and what kind of ideology they have must be properly perceived and evaluated.

PV:This problem has been warned about at Party congresses, but why has it not been prevented or pushed back, and in some cases has it even become more sophisticated and complicated, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Trong Phuc: The above situation exists because the party members themselves do not cultivate and practice enough, which easily leads to decline and changes in ideological awareness and even in lifestyle ethics. Besides, although we have paid attention to educating our cadres and party members, it has not been thorough enough.

Party discipline has not been strict in recent times, and at times it has even been lax, so many bases have lost their fighting power. In my opinion, we should tighten Party discipline and tighten state laws. If we do not do that, it will lead to a situation of debauchery and disregard for the law. When we have power and position, we can easily become "little kings" who are above the law, which is very dangerous.

Another important reason is the impact from outside, while party members and cadres have not been fully prepared with the necessary conditions to "resist" those negative impacts.

Looking back at typical cases in recent times, such as the Trinh Xuan Thanh case, we cannot separate ourselves from the above fundamental causes. Because we have given them too much power and a large amount of assets and material wealth while there is no good mechanism to control it, leading to loss and corruption.

Another point to note is that when violations are discovered, the handling is not timely. It is necessary to quickly intervene, transparently and publicly disclose those errors. Because if there is even a slight delay in enforcing discipline, it will lead to unpredictable events.

For Trinh Xuan Thanh's violations, the Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee must first take responsibility, the government must handle them immediately, not push them to the Central Government, and only after the General Secretary has given his opinion will they act. This shows that the Party organization and the government must truly uphold their responsibilities, especially the responsibilities of their leaders, in order to detect and handle them promptly. Therefore, the role of the Party organization and the government must be strictly controlled.

Recently, in many places, there is still a situation of shifting responsibility, in the end, "kicking" it up, leaving everything to the Central Committee to resolve. Resolution 4 of the Central Committee has clearly stated that when something happens, the responsibility of the leader is very great, therefore the responsibility of the leader must be dealt with.

Control the power of those in power

PV:According to him, is the "weapon" of criticism and self-criticism still powerful enough to prevent and push back the current state of ideological, moral, and lifestyle degradation of a number of party members and officials, especially leaders and managers?

Mr. Nguyen Trong Phuc: In my opinion, that is still the law of development of the Party. We have two principles that are highly valued: the principle of democratic centralism and the principle of criticism and self-criticism within the Party. That is the driving force and the solution to make the Party clean and strong. Resolution of the 11th Central Committee, Session 4, continues to promote criticism and self-criticism to become a regular practice in Party cell activities.

Criticism and self-criticism to see the positive aspects and the limitations to correct. Uncle Ho said: In the Party, practicing democracy widely, regularly and seriously, self-criticism and criticism is the best way to consolidate and develop the solidarity and unity of the Party. There must be comradely love for each other. Those who have shortcomings should correct them, those who do not commit shortcomings should look at them and avoid them, with the ultimate goal of making the Party clean.

PV:Regarding the 4 tasks and solutions suggested by the General Secretary, which group of solutions do you think should be focused on?

Mr. Nguyen Trong Phuc: I agree with the solutions that the General Secretary has proposed. The important thing is to do it resolutely and effectively. Among the four tasks and solutions mentioned, the people's supervision solution should be given importance. Recently, the supervisory role of the people, the Front, and organizations over party members has not been effective. The people know clearly which party members are good or bad, corrupt or not, whether they take care of their families, what their lifestyle is like... Therefore, how can we promote the people's supervisory role over party members, especially those with positions and power?

In my opinion, there needs to be a mechanism to control power and perfect the institutions to prevent corruption among cadres and party members. Because now we give too much power and too much money but no one can control it.

Once we have identified corrupted and degenerate cadres and party members, we must clearly identify their addresses, in which departments, and at which levels. And once we have clearly identified the addresses, we must act and assign responsibility to the end; we must clearly identify which organizations and individuals are responsible. As for the phenomenon that has been talked about a lot, such as running for positions, running for power, running for degrees, and even running for transfers, if we just speak in general terms like that, it cannot be resolved. Therefore, in my opinion, we must clearly identify the addresses and who it is in order to be able to handle it.

PV:Thank you, sir./.

According to VOV.VN