Lê Quang Thưởng, former Vice Director of the Commission for Organisation of the Party Central Committee, speaks to Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper on the need to prevent opportunists from holding Party or Government positions.

How do you respond to the Party Central Committee’s recent decision to discipline more than 70 senior government officials?

The decision to discipline more than 70 senior Party and government officials, including a member of the Party Politburo and the Party Central Committee, is something that no one wanted to happen. However, that decision is a manifestation of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s campaign of rectification within the Party. There is no “safe haven” for any senior party member or government official who has violated the Party regulations. Such a decision has won support from the Vietnamese people, including party members. No doubt, it will help consolidate the people’s confidence in Party leadership.

The 13th National Party Congress will be organised in the near future. Don’t you think this is a good lesson in selecting candidates to stand for the Party Central Committee?

In my opinion, only people with good virtue and integrity should be elected to the Party Central Committee.

In the current Vietnamese economy, cash remains a dominant tool used in most business transactions. So, to make our fight against corruption a success, we should encourage people to curtail the use of cash in their transactions, and instead use either credit cards or cheques.

In the meantime, we should launch communication campaigns to criticise any acts of corruption or embezzlement to make society healthy and clean.

Of course, the Government should have good policies on personnel management and this is an effective tool to prevent any wrongdoings. A case in point is the construction of a 7-story hotel on the Mã Pì Lèng Pass, in Hà Giang. It took the hotel owner two years to build the hotel. So, in the two years, the Hà Giang provincial authorities "didn’t know" that there was a hotel being constructed on Mã Pì Lèng Pass. Furthermore, the Mã Pì Leng Hotel does not have a construction permit.

Do you have any comment on the recent election of four new members to the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee to further consolidate the strength of the Party Inspection Office?

The number of members in the Party Inspection Office is of no importance. What is important is whether these new members are capable of performing their assigned tasks.

What are your expectations for people elected to the Party Central Committee in the upcoming election which is scheduled for early 2021?

All Vietnamese people, including other party members, hope that members elected to the next term of the Party Central Committee will live up to their promises and are loyal servants to the Communist Party of Việt Nam and the Vietnamese people. — VNS