PhD Bùi Đình Phong, senior lecturer at Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration tells vov.vn that the criteria for choosing leading civil servants and cadres at different levels must be specific to appoint qualified people.

What is your opinion about the nepotism at State agencies in some localities recently?

Nepotism in Government and State agencies in some recent cases is a phenomenon that should be condemned. The process of appointing these officials to high positions at State agencies, where six or seven of their family members are working, did not ensure transparency or compliance to Party and State regulations. They were not qualified intellectually or qualitatively.

However, there could be cases that family members who are intellectual and ethical deserve the top posts. There have been cases that both father and son in the same family are chosen for key positions. It is important to distinguish between the two cases.

There were cases that when appointing cadres, localities said they followed the right processes in choosing the cadres while inspectorate agencies found errors in the process. What do you think about this?

There are two reasons for this situation. The current process of appointing cadres has a loophole and a poor management ability of those in charge of the issue. In some cases, when being found to have appointed the wrong person, the people responsible for the hiring often implicate that the appointment has followed the required procedures. The wrongdoings were found after inspectors examined the process.

Some say that it is necessary to control powerful people who deliberately misuse the cadre appointment process.  What’s your opinion?

Control of power is an important issue that the Party has mentioned in the resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s fourth session. I think the Party and the State should have regulations on power control. Secondly, there is an important thing that we have not done yet: letting people control power via socio-political organisations.

The hiring of cadres is only within the Party’s remit. I think this is wrong, as President Hồ Chí Minh pointed out that it was important to get opinions from the people. To control power effectively, apart from the Party and State agencies, conditions should be created so the people have joint control.

What measures can be implemented to appoint the right cadres to Government and State agencies?

We have a lot of regulations on this issue. In my opinion, there are some steps that need to be done strictly: we must comply with the latest regulations on the work of cadres of the Party and the State. Those regulations discuss the criteria of cadres at different levels, specifically and clearly.

It is also very important to have the credibility and opinion of the people. For the past few years, we have appointed through the Party only. In my opinion, it is necessary to get opinions from the public – in this case the localities where the cadres live and work. – VNS