"Declare" to "list" and make public...

(Baonghean) - Asset declaration has been in place for decades, a mandatory regulation for leaders from the deputy head of department level at the district level and above. Typically, at the beginning of each term and annually, these officials must update their personnel records with information on assets acquired during the year. However, this declaration has been largely ineffective, because officials don't actually declare their assets! Furthermore, the information isn't made public, so there's no oversight. The lack of public disclosure of assets by officials subject to declaration has rendered the process largely a formality.

One might think that if it's not made public, the people won't know and won't be able to monitor it. But the "eyes and ears of the people" are very sharp; even a piece of land bought from some distant place, or a house transferred to one's children or grandchildren, cannot escape the people's notice. The important thing is that only through transparency can the people discover and help the Party identify officials and Party members who have made incomplete or dishonest declarations, thereby helping the Party correct its officials and Party members.

Studies in developed countries have long shown that they have successfully built and operated systems for managing the assets of officials, and have even enacted laws on the disclosure of officials' assets. This is done to further enhance the integrity of officials in society, providing a basis for citizens to monitor them. It is also an effective measure to deter and prevent officials from engaging in corruption.Recently, public opinion has focused on the issue of some officials refusing to return their government-provided housing after retirement or transfer. Some officials only discover they possess enormous wealth after "landing safely." Therefore, some people wonder if we still have "forbidden zones," and if we haven't truly fought corruption.

The failure to declare assets accurately, or even the failure to declare them at all, is creating loopholes that allow corruption to exist. For several years now, we have been paying salaries to state officials and civil servants through bank accounts. However, these accounts usually only contain salary and some "legitimate" benefits, while other income outside of salary remains unaccounted for… On the other hand, there is also a lack of oversight of income and expenditure through all accounts of officials and civil servants.

As long as officials and civil servants lack self-awareness and supervision is not fully implemented, the public will continue to ask: When will asset declarations be sufficient to fully reflect the public's knowledge? And it is certain that the fight against corruption will remain difficult…

Phung Van