Lưu Bình Nhưỡng. — VNA/VNS Photo

Lưu Bình Nhưỡng, deputy head of the National Assembly Committee for People’s Aspiration, speaks to the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper about efforts to encourage voluntary resignations by officials who behave badly and betray the public trust

A highlight at the recent 8th Plenum of the Party Central Committee was a discussion on the need to create the expectation among Party/Government officials that if they have been involved in wrongdoing or mismanagement, they should voluntarily leave their position.  What are your thoughts on that kind of expectation, which we could call a culture of resignation?

Article 4 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam states clearly that all organisations of the Party and party members shall operate in accordance with the Constitution and the country’s laws.

In other words, if any party member breaches the laws, he/she will be punished as any other ordinary Vietnamese citizen.

Under the Vietnamese Communist Party’s Statute, each Party member should be a mirror for the general public to follow. However, in the recent past, a certain number of Party members and even senior Party and Government Officials have breached the Party’s Statute and the country’s laws. They have eroded the people’s confidence in the Party and Government. So in my opinion, any senior party members who have seriously breached the Party’s Statute or the nation’s laws, they should resign from their posts. And in serious cases, they should be expelled from the Party.

In the eyes of the general public, party members should be the mirrors for them to follow.

At the opening session of the recent 8th Plenum of Party Central Committee,  Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng said that quite a number of our senior Government/Party officials have not lived up to the people’s expectation. Will you please further elaborate on what the Party leader’s statement meant?

I have to admit that quite a few of our senior Party/Government officials have lived a decadent life. And they even let their wives rule the roost! In short, those Party/Government officials should be ashamed of themselves and they should resign from their posts.

Under the Party’s Statue, all party members should set examples for other people to follow.

How do you respond to the proposal that all members of the Party Politburo, of the Party Secretariat or of the Party Central Committee should resign if they have failed in performing their jobs or have presided over subordinates who seriously flouted the Party’s rules?

I’m sorry to say that I don’t believe these rules will create a major breakthrough. Up to now, in Việt Nam, we don’t have the culture of resignation. But, these rules will start our country on the path towards widespread resignations of officials who have done wrong.

Whether, these rules will come to life or not, it is too early to say. In our society, the “disease of clinging to power” is still strongly prevailing while corrupt acts are still rather common in our society. This is a serious ulcer in our society!

However, I hope that if all Vietnamese people from the rank and file up hold their determination to live and work in accordance with the country’s constitution, no doubt, the culture of resignation will become a normal thing in life. — VNS