Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang: 'Corruption of 'seats' is more dangerous than corruption of money'

The former Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department believes that if personnel work is not done objectively, is haphazard, negative, and involves bribery, it will harm one's career.

VOV.VN reporter interviewed Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang, former Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department.

Need to review personnel work seriously

PV:Recently, with the intervention of the Central Inspection Committee, many erring cadres and Party organizations have been dealt with and proposed to be dealt with. Besides welcoming the Party's political determination in the fight against negativity and corruption, public opinion also believes that it is necessary to review the cadre work of the time when it has let unqualified cadres "slip into the apparatus". What is your opinion on this assessment?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang: I think it is necessary to look back seriously and thoroughly. During the war, the cadre work was generally very good, gathering many talented people for the resistance war to defend the country. At that time, if there was not such a good and talented cadre team, it would not have been possible to complete the extremely difficult task as gloriously as it was done.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang, former Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department.

In history, when the Fatherland was in danger, in hardship, and suffering, many talented and virtuous people gathered to save the country. That was the attraction of the spirit of the country, for the motherland, for the great cause, and at the same time, it also demonstrated a correct policy on cadre work. But unfortunately, in times of peace, after a period of victory, cadre work had problems, and this has been repeated many times in history, not like during the war.

Talents were gradually becoming scarcer, and there was even a period after the victory to defend the country, when talented people were pushed out of the system. Even loyal officials were harmed, while flatterers and opportunists were infiltrating the system. I repeat such historical stories, not referring to the present day, but also wanting to reflect on them, in order to draw experience for national governance.

Since the period of peace until now, especially in recent years, there have been many problems in personnel work. Of course, we cannot deny everything, but we must affirm that there are problems. In many cases, the wrong people were selected and assigned. Letting this situation happen is the responsibility of the leaders, the organization, the staff, the responsibility of the Party committees at all levels, and many terms.

There are many reasons for the incorrect selection and placement of cadres. Either due to lack of thoroughness in evaluating people, bureaucracy, or unfairness for career purposes, placement of cadres based on acquaintances, using disciples, relatives, being influenced by money, "interest groups", buying and selling positions... At the same time, more importantly, it is necessary to review the mechanism and method of selecting cadres.

If we go into the details of each agency, ministry, and locality, the story of personnel work will be clearer. There are very important agencies and positions related to selecting people, checking and supervising work, protecting the truth and the balance of justice, preventing wrongdoing, protecting and multiplying human values, teaching and saving people, including extremely important positions in leadership and management, etc., but the arrangement of personnel in many places is incorrect and wrong.

Of course, every term has good comrades, we should not deny them completely or criticize them in an extreme way. But we must see the mistakes, be aware of them, and find ways to avoid them, not to repeat them.

PV:Selecting officials must go through many stages and must be done carefully through many specific procedures and processes, but why do such unfortunate incidents still happen, sir?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang:The process is a tool, a means, a way to select cadres, set by people. We cannot use the correct process to justify the results. It is impossible that the process is good and done correctly, but the results are wrong, not good. Doing the correct process does not mean the process is good.

A good process must be a process that produces good products. If the process contributes to creating many bad products, it is not a good process. Processes are created by humans, they can be good or bad. It is necessary to review them comprehensively and fundamentally, to soon have amendments or adjustments, supplements, in a scientific and practical way.

The second thing is the dedication, responsibility, and integrity of those who do personnel work and lead personnel work. If you are dedicated to your career and are honest, then the process will be applied in the direction of creating good products. On the contrary, if you do personnel work without honesty, then the process will be a tool for you to find ways to take advantage of, to do things that are not clear and transparent, to legitimize wrongdoing, with unhealthy and dishonest intentions.

Corruption in "chairs" is more dangerous than corruption in money

PV:Violations related to cadres but the "gatekeeper" agencies at the local and grassroots levels do not detect them, and only when superiors intervene do they reveal the violations. In your opinion, what is the responsibility of the "gatekeeper" agencies here?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang:There are things that are not discovered below, maybe it's not that they don't know but they don't dare to speak up, because they're afraid of the leaders there, because they're afraid of touching them, and the collective loses its fighting spirit.

Second, because of “being in the same boat”, “it’s easy for others to do it for me”, they can cover up for each other. When the higher agencies get involved, they are strict and can detect it. However, there are also cases where the higher agencies do not detect it, cover up the wrongdoing, because they are not strict, or even bribed or influenced.

If there is a violation in the field you manage, you must take responsibility and be disciplined according to the severity of the problem, at least disciplined in terms of responsibility.

PV: What do you think about the situation of "choosing family members, not talented people" and "the whole family becoming officials" that the press and public opinion have reported recently?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang:There have been many cases where relatives have been appointed. There is no criterion that says relatives, children or grandchildren can be appointed. That is not the procedure, nor is it the standard, but in reality, there have been many cases where people have done so.

That itself is not scientific, there is no regulation that says “familiarity” or “children” are the basis for selection. In many cases, the responsibility of leaders at this or that level has been taken. The leaders were not objective, not impartial, wanted their children to rise quickly, to take up positions quickly, while they were not talented, not virtuous, not experienced, not better (or even worse) than others. Even in cases where someone directly presided over the promotion of their children and grandchildren. That is so bad, how can people believe it.

In the case of leaders' children who meet the standards and qualities, the leaders should not directly promote their children because it is also very awkward and can easily lead to misunderstandings. The organization will know whether these leaders' children have the ability and qualities or not, the comrades will know, but we should not directly do this.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang: Corruption of "chairs" and corruption of power are more dangerous than corruption of money.

During the war, our leaders were very exemplary. There were cases where leaders’ children were qualified to study abroad but they encouraged their children to stay and join the army and go to the battlefield. Many comrades in the Politburo at that time did the same. There was even a leader who had only one child but also acted in that way.

That is also the way a leader behaves towards the common cause. Such behavior will contribute significantly to the children and grandchildren to follow and grow up in personality, know how to live, and know how to contribute to a goal.

If the personnel work is not done objectively, is haphazard, negative, buys and sells positions, or uses influence to gain favors, it will harm one's career. Recently, public opinion often calls it a form of corruption of "seats", corruption of power, and political corruption. It is very dangerous, even more dangerous than corruption of money.

No matter whose child is it, as long as that person is virtuous and talented.

PV: How should we treat children of leaders and children of revolutionary families when we are still giving priority to these subjects, sir?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang:I believe that personnel work needs to be objective, not based on whose children they are, as long as they are virtuous and talented. We must use people with real capacity and qualities to promote talents and virtuous people (the nation's vital energy), without distinguishing between "official" children and "civilian" children.

In reality, there are cadres who are considered “family members” but are actually “red seeds” with a good foundation of family tradition, who have learned and inherited the experiences of their ancestors, and who are truly capable and have good qualities, so why not use them? How good to use them!

However, the children of leaders should not be in the areas that the leaders are directly responsible for and manage. The father is a leader in one place, the child is in another place and develops normally, what's the problem? During the Nguyen Dynasty, hundreds of years ago, there was also the Hoi Ty law, which prohibited the appointment of relatives in the areas that the officials were in charge of. That was a mechanism to prevent wrongdoing.

PV:Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc once said: We must do everything we can to ensure that children of farmers, workers, and the poor have the opportunity to study, advance, and even become leaders in the future. In your opinion, how should we start to do the work of cadres correctly?

Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoang: That desire is very legitimate and very equal. But from the desire to the realization, there must be a mechanism. This task must be assigned to independent scientists to research and advise on a scientific basis. Most importantly, it is necessary to choose the right researchers who are capable, have practice and expertise in that field, and dare to express their independent opinions.

In my opinion, that mechanism must promote the dynamism and autonomy of socio-political organizations so that they can discover talents, then compare, screen and put them up for election. Election, not arrangement or placement. Of course, it is a healthy election, not influenced by negative factors. If the situation of no election continues, the cadres will degenerate, like all species when separated from natural selection.

Through healthy and transparent elections, if the leaders' children are elected, the people will be very satisfied. At that time, the problem of "leaders' children" will gradually disappear.

There are two ways to select professional staff: some types of staff are selected through competitions, others are selected by the leader. The leader who selects the staff also has the right to change and is also responsible for the behavior of the staff he has selected. Another leader who takes over has the right to re-select. Staff selected in this way have a working term according to the leader's term.

Another way is to choose people who are extremely dedicated to the common cause, sensitive to life, and sensitive to the work of evaluating and discovering talented people, to go incognito and listen to people's opinions in order to discover and choose the right talents, and introduce them to organizations.

On the other hand, there must be a mechanism for resignation and a culture of resignation that is not stagnant as it is now. Consider it a very normal thing (not an abnormal thing as it is currently considered). Those who resign are self-respecting, responsible, and worthy of being welcomed. Through resignation, they regain their prestige, maintain their prestige in life, and can then be reassigned to that job or another job that is even more important. Create an open up and down process.

PV:Thank you, sir./.

According to VOV