Lê Thanh Vân. — Photo vov.vn

Lê Thanh Vân, a  member of the Việt Nam National Assembly’s Committee on Finance and Budget, talks to Radio Voice of Việt Nam on how to select the right people for the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Việt Nam

Do you have any comments on personnel preparation for future Government officials in Việt Nam?

Generally speaking, the work of personnel preparation for future Government officials has been done very carefully and thoroughly. However, some weaknesses have been exposed and as a result, quite a few senior Government officials have failed to fufill their duties.

We all agree that good personnel planning is very important. In the planning stages, we should look for people who are capable of performing their assignments. However, this step has not yet been done properly in Việt Nam. This is a key reason why quite a few people who have been promoted to senior positions have failed to perform their duties.

Of course, good planning is only a step in the process. But I’m confident that if this step is well prepared, we’ll be able to choose the right people for the right positions.

Do you think that we need a careful screening period to find the right people?

I still remember the Head of the Organising Board of the Party Central Committee saying that the work of planning has several steps, first we have to look for people whom we think have all the required qualities. In the next step, we have to make a shortlist among these people and we can add new people to the list if we find they are suitable candidates.

Do you mean there should be competition so we can choose the best people?

Yes, this is one way to choose the right people for the right job. Of course, we’ll organise an examination or a test to select the right people for the jobs we want to offer them. Even in ancient Vietnamese feudal regimes, tests were also organised to select the right people for the right position in the then Governments.

But, what I want to emphasise here is that if there is a promotion, there is also a decision to demote people who have failed to perform their duties. And in a serious case, he/she may even be put into jail.

Should we have a set of criteria to evaluate the performance of Government officials?

At present, we have adopted criteria to select or to promote Government officials, including their educational levels, credibility from their peers in their office, plus their curriculum vitae. However, in reality, there are still loopholes in the personnel promotion process, even though we have a very strict set of rules for promoting people to important positions in a public agency or a high position in the Government.

At the onset of the grassroots Party Congress and the 13th National Party Congress, what should we do to ensure only the right people are chosen?

According to reports from the Central Party Organisation Board, preparation work for the upcoming Party congresses from the grassroots level to the central level are ongoing.

So the most important task now is to choose the right people to serve in the new term of the Party Committees – from the grassroots level to the highest level in the Party Central Committee. — VNS