Nguyễn Minh Tuấn. — Photo thanhnien.vn

Professor Nguyễn Minh Tuấn, director of the Party Building Institute at the Hồ Chí Minh National Political Academy, speaks to Đại Đoàn Kết (Great National Unity) newspaper on the need to practise transparency in the selection of candidates for senior Party positions.

In December, ministries and sectors will have to complete planning for future senior leaders. What are the most important criteria for selecting candidates for these positions?

With lessons learned from previous legislators, the Party Central Committee has come up with new regulations to prevent “lobbying”. From now on, if anyone is listed as a potential future leader, they must win approval a grass roots level first. With this new rule, we hope only people with good virtue and extensive knowledge who have high approval ratings will be listed as future candidates. People who do not have that grass-roots approval will not be listed as candidates for the next level. In other words, there will be no chance for anyone to “jump the cue”.

I can say that all the requirements for senior positions in either the Government or the Party are as clear as day. I is now up to the voters to make their own decisions. Of course, if any violations are detected, the culprits will be punished.

Can you please explain more about the three screening steps for candidate selection?

The number of candidates and the actual voting are all transparent. On the part of the candidates – they must exhibit a high sense of responsibility and political awareness as required by Vietnamese laws and Party statutes.

Last but not least, screening of candidates’ CVs is of great importance so only those with clean qualifications will be included on lists of candidates.

Will these important criteria be strictly upheld before elections are held?

If transparency and accountability are upheld, I’m confident that power will be controlled. If we have a good and workable rule, we will have the means to monitor and control the process. But, what’s more important is for top leaders to have the ability to monitor the activities of the people they are responsible for. This is still an open question without an answer.

Can you explain Decision 08 of the Party Central Committee on the criteria for senior Party and Government Officials?

If Decision 08 of the Party Central Committee is strictly upheld, it is the responsibility for each Party member to think twice before casting their votes for the Politburo, Party Secretariat and Party Central Committee. We’re now living in a democratic society, so to choose a candidate to stand for an important position, each voter has to read and think twice before they cast their votes, including the candidate’s health so they can be true representatives in top Party organisations. — VNS