The Central Steering Committee for Corruption and Negative Phenomena Prevention and Control held its 22nd meeting on Wednesday under the chair of Party General Secretary and Chairman of the committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng (standing). — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — A total of 295 Party members have received disciplinary actions for corruption and deliberate wrongdoings in the first six months of 2022, up 117 compared to last year’s same period.

The information was disclosed at the 22nd meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption held yesterday in Hà Nội, under the chair of the Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng to review work in the first half of the year and set tasks for the second half.

At the meeting, the Steering Committee unanimously concluded that in the past six months, the committee has directed and accelerated inspection, supervision, and auditing, and strictly dealt with many levels of offending Party committees, organisations, and officials – no matter senior, incumbent or even retired. This strongly affirms the committee’s determination to fight corruption in the spirit of “no forbidden zones, no exceptions”, to the approval and appreciation of the people and public opinion.

According to the report delivered at the meeting, the Party Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Central Commission for Inspection have disciplined 27 officials under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat (an increase of 20 cases compared to the same period last year).

Since the beginning of the term, 56 officials under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat, including 10 members and former members of the Party Central Committee, have been disciplined.

Inspection and auditing agencies have proposed the recovery of VNĐ15.41 trillion (US$658 million) and 134 hectares of land and suggested administrative actions against 1,682 collectives and 2,676 individuals (an increase of 831 collectives and 603 individuals compared to the same period last year).

The Committee urged for swift and complete handling of five major, serious corruption cases – including the stock manipulation case at the FLC Group, the bribery case at the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the special repatriation flights during border lockdowns as a result of COVID-19, wrongdoings in several public investment and bidding projects involving AIC Group, bond fraud case at Tân Hoàng Minh Group.

The infamous Việt Á case, in which it is alleged that the company has bribed several health officials across the country to get the company’s COVID-19 test kits to be bought and used, has led to arrests of 95 people in 25 cases – including heads of provincial/municipal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs), the then incumbent health minister Nguyễn Thanh Long, and former technology minister and then Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Chu Ngọc Anh.

To date, all 63 localities have set up their own steering committees for anti-corruption and many have discovered cases right at the local level.

General Secretary Trọng said the Party and State agencies have been working to review and consolidate legal regulations to make sure "no corruption and misdemeanours can be done".

He urged for early completion of a Regulation document on power control to prevent and combat corruption and ideological, moral, and lifestyle degradation phenomena right within the fields of inspection, supervision, enforcement of party discipline, auditing, investigation, prosecution, judgment enforcement, law-making, management and use of finance and public property and in press and communication activities. 

Party chief calls for strengthening of and improving the quality and efficiency of inspection, supervision, and auditing, with a focus on corruption-prone areas and sectors.— VNS