"Confidence that the fight against corruption will continue to be strengthened"

In addition to the Party's political determination, the amended and supplemented Law on Anti-Corruption is a legal framework to strictly handle and deter corruption. Mr. Vu Quoc Hung - former member of the Party Central Committee, former Permanent Deputy Head of the Central Inspection Committee discussed this issue.

Mr. Vu Quoc Hung:Our fight against corruption has improved and achieved many concrete results, with many cases being clarified and strictly handled.

Recently, under the chairmanship of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the 14th meeting of the Central Steering Committee on anti-corruption had a lot of noteworthy information.

The Steering Committee has put a number of serious and complicated corruption cases under monitoring and direction at three levels to focus on strict handling, with the principle: "No forbidden zones, no exceptions, regardless of who the person is"; forming a mechanism to direct the handling of corruption and economic cases...

Of the total 68 cases, 57 serious and complicated corruption and economic cases under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee, up to now, 40 cases/500 defendants have been investigated, prosecuted and brought to trial, with severe sentences, in accordance with the law, very strict but also very humane; including many particularly serious and complicated corruption and economic cases, of special interest to public opinion, including cases that have been pending for many years and have been directed to be completely resolved.

Regarding the tasks in the last months of 2018: Focus on directing to complete the investigation of 10 cases; issue indictments to prosecute 7 cases; conduct first-instance trials of 10 cases; conduct appeal trials of 8 cases; handle 32 cases under the supervision and direction of the Steering Committee...

The reason for such results is due to the Party's high political determination. That further strengthens confidence and enhances the Party's leadership role. In recent times, the Party itself has recognized and concretized and institutionalized Resolution 4 of the Central Committee (12th tenure) on Party building and rectification; Resolution 6 of the Central Committee (12th tenure) on a number of issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the political system to be streamlined, effective and efficient; Resolution 7 of the Central Committee (12th tenure) on focusing on building a contingent of cadres at all levels, especially at the strategic level, with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige, equal to the task.

These are resolutions in which the Party has clearly pointed out the shortcomings, weaknesses, and mistakes within the Party. The Party openly, not concealing them, has identified and pointed out 27 signs of degradation and self-evolution in Resolution 4 of the Central Committee (12th tenure).

The above events show that our Party's fight against corruption is a sincere fight, a resolute fight, with the spirit of fighting to the end, not just a formality. This is what Uncle Ho said is a fight against internal invasion, against evils in our comrades, expressed from political ideology to lifestyle ethics, to embezzlement, waste...

So it can be said that, in recent times, our Party has been very determined to fight corruption and degradation, and specifically in Resolution 4 of the Central Committee, it said that there are no forbidden zones, no white zones, no deference, and no avoidance.

PV:Many people believe that the role of the leader is very important to achieve the current anti-corruption results. What is your opinion on this issue?

Mr. Vu Quoc Hung:Theory as well as practice have shown that the role of the leader is extremely important. Our ancestors used to say "one person taking care is equal to a warehouse of workers", and today the role of the leader has been emphasized in many documents and resolutions.

In recent times, it can be said that the General Secretary has been very determined and has always shown his attitude when necessary. For example, when Thanh Nien Newspaper wrote an article about the appearance of a Lexus 570 car, worth nearly 6 billion VND, with a blue license plate, used to transport Mr. Trinh Xuan Thanh, then a National Assembly delegate and Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hau Giang province.

It seemed like a small matter, because Trinh Xuan Thanh was not yet a senior official, and was just a young official. But realizing that this matter needed to be clarified, the General Secretary directed the relevant agencies to get involved and through the case of Trinh Xuan Thanh, many things were revealed...

PV:It is expected that at this session, the National Assembly will pass the amended Law on Anti-Corruption. Many people believe that with this extremely important tool, the fight against corruption will be more effective. What is your opinion on this issue?

Mr. Vu Quoc Hung:At first, there was only a resolution on anti-corruption, then there was a decree on anti-corruption. At that time, I worked in the Central Standing Committee 62. Now, anti-corruption is not only a resolution of the Party but has been institutionalized by law.

This round of amendments to the Law on Anti-Corruption has many notable contents such as: Expanding the scope of the Law on Anti-Corruption to corruption acts in agencies, organizations, units and individuals outside the state sector. How to handle assets of unknown origin (unaccountable)? Who controls the assets and income of civil servants?... I think this will be a sharp tool to prevent and fight corruption; then all citizens will look at it to avoid violating the law. That is very important because we are building a country that needs to be regulated by law.

It can be affirmed that the Law on Anti-Corruption has been reviewed, supplemented and amended in accordance with the law, stemming from practical activities. This shows that the Party is not conservative, and has promptly supplemented what is lacking and incomplete.

I find it very encouraging and believe that with the intelligence of the advisory body in preparing this law and especially the intelligence of the National Assembly, there will be a more comprehensive and feasible law in the near future. I believe that the fight against corruption will continue to be strengthened and become more effective.

In his speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Party Inspection Sector's Traditional Day, the Standing Member of the Secretariat, on behalf of the Politburo, emphasized that Party building and rectification, and anti-corruption are very important tasks. The Party's political determination is consistent and unwavering.

PV:Thank you!

Presenting a report at the 14th Session of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, Comrade Phan Dinh Trac, Head of the Central Internal Affairs Committee, stated: In 68 cases, 40/57 serious and complicated economic corruption cases have been investigated and prosecuted, with 500 defendants; 40 working groups have been organized to inspect, supervise and urge the work of anti-corruption at 15 Party committees and organizations at the Central level and 63 Standing Committees of Provincial Party Committees and City Party Committees directly under the Central Government, making recommendations on 404 groups of issues on perfecting mechanisms, policies and laws, directing the handling of 452 corruption and economic cases and cases, disciplining more than 4,300 cadres and Party members; Proposing to recover more than 400 trillion VND and 18,525 hectares of land, transferring 515 cases with signs of criminal law violations to competent authorities for investigation and handling according to the provisions of law.../.