General Secretary: Disciplining officials is very painful, but it must be done.

"I've said many times that I don't like disciplining my comrades and colleagues, and I even feel very uneasy and pained about it, but discipline is necessary, and violations of the law must be dealt with," General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said at a meeting with voters in Hanoi on June 23.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at a meeting with voters.

They're always trying to get their hands on something.scam

Sharing with voters about the fight against corruption and waste, the General Secretary said that this policy has made progress with the recent disciplinary action against many officials, including Central Committee members, provincial Party secretaries, provincial People's Committee chairmen, and deputy ministers... The General Secretary emphasized that the spirit is to act comprehensively but in stages. For example, the recent disciplinary action against Mr. Dinh La Thang was welcomed by the public as "fair and reasonable," paving the way for others to progress, essentially serving as a deterrent and prevention measure.

"I've said many times that I don't enjoy disciplining my comrades and colleagues, and it even causes me great distress and pain, but discipline is necessary, and violations of the law must be dealt with," the General Secretary expressed, adding that this policy still faces many difficulties, cannot be satisfied with, and must be continued for a long time. This is not unique to Vietnam; looking broadly across the world, it has always existed throughout history. Group interests are like that, where people take advantage of whatever they have.

"In the past, when cadres were cheerful and willing to go to the front lines, shielding their comrades from bullets, people trusted, respected, and loved them. But now, they prioritize their own gain, pushing difficulties onto others... 'I'm poor like this, you're poor like that,' which leads to a loss of trust. This is one of the reasons why we must strengthen the building of a clean Party and political system, and we must do it regularly," the General Secretary said.

The promise was kept.Is it good or not?

Agreeing with the voters' assessment, the General Secretary stated that this session of the National Assembly, though only working for over 20 days, has achieved significant results, passing 12 laws and providing opinions on 6 draft laws. Among these, the National Assembly's approval of the amended Penal Code is a great success. Similarly, projects addressing bad debts and public debt are also very large and difficult issues. The Planning Law, however, has not yet been passed due to its complexity and differing opinions, and therefore must be postponed for further work before being passed.

Particularly for the question-and-answer session, for the first time, the National Assembly allocated three days for four ministers and one permanent deputy prime minister to take the podium. The deputies debated very frankly; previously, it was mostly just questions and answers, but now it has shifted from presentations to debates. This was summarized by the Speaker of the National Assembly in the closing session of the meeting. However, the General Secretary also noted that the question-and-answer session still had many limitations, did not go all the way, and needed to be debated more frankly.

"The purpose of questioning is to identify responsibilities, to correct shortcomings and limitations in order to better fulfill one's duties. Questioning is not about asking, answering, or seeking information, but about examining individual responsibility; one cannot simply blame external factors. Responsibility must be accepted, and promises must be made to improve next time," the General Secretary said, emphasizing that the important thing is how it is implemented in practice, whether promises are kept, and whether there is effective monitoring and supervision.

"You gentlemen are concerned about that, and we are concerned about that too. We talk a lot, but what's important is whether there's a change in people's lives. Talking well is necessary, persuading each other is necessary, but after that, there must be change in reality – that's what's needed," the General Secretary said.

Golf course at the airport: "How strange!"

Highly appreciating the effectiveness of the recent questioning session, voter Trinh Quoc Viet (Thanh Nhan ward, Hai Ba Trung district) said that increasing the questioning time to 3 days met the wishes of voters. The questioning and answering also demonstrated the role and responsibility of National Assembly deputies, heads of ministries, and deputy prime ministers. Voters and citizens also hope that after the resolution on the questioning is issued, it must be implemented and monitored. "Promises need to be followed up and implemented concretely; only then can the responsibility of each sector be clarified," Mr. Viet suggested.

Regarding the healthcare sector, voter Nguyen Cong Chat (Pham Dinh Ho ward, Hai Ba Trung district) expressed his concern, noting that during the question-and-answer session, the Minister of Health stated that there was no longer any bribery, and that the on-call pay, which used to be insufficient for a bowl of pho, has now increased to 25,000 VND. "With such income, why do we see so many doctors driving cars?" Mr. Chat questioned.

The fight against corruption is also of great concern to voters and the public. Voters are worried about many major cases that have not been prosecuted, and even those that have been prosecuted still require further review of the results. Voters in Hai Ba Trung district believe that the losses incurred by projects worth around 10 trillion VND, which impoverish the country, are not due to incompetent officials, but rather to a lack of responsibility and vested interests.

Referring to the golf course within the airport, voter Chất said: “Tan Son Nhat Airport is so congested, the whole country is worried, the Government is worried, the Party is worried, and yet there's a golf course here? I find it very strange, the people find it very strange! I believe it needs to be reviewed, the interests of the nation and the country must be prioritized, and local interests must be eliminated.”

TPO