Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng has urged higher resolve and more drastic actions to better prevent and fight corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena. — VNA/VNS Photo VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI – Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng has urged higher resolve and more drastic actions to better prevent and fight corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena. 

He made the request at the 11th session of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption in Hà Nội yesterday. 

While recognising the committee’s efforts, the Party chief, who is also head of the steering committee, pointed out that many shortcomings remain, particularly the slow pace of the investigation, prosecution and trial of some serious corruption cases and the small amount of assets recovered from corruption cases. State agencies failed to uncover corruption within their apparatus, and most of those cases were brought to light by the media or the public. 

The Party General Secretary emphasised that while the central government has taken strong actions against corruption, local governments have not enough. 

He asked the committee to put more serious or delayed corruption cases under its supervision and pay more heed to the fields of natural resources, environment, taxation, customs, and the private and foreign invested sectors. 

It must take measures to prevent corruption suspects from escaping and step up inspection and examination of the responsibility of the heads of agencies when corruption occurs. 

It is also necessary to increase information dissemination on activities fighting corruption and the implementation of the Politburo’s Directive 05 on studying and following Hồ Chí Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle, and the resolution of the 12th Party Central Committee’s fourth session on Party reinforcement, he added. 

Reviewing the committee’s performance in 2016, participants at the meeting said the investigation, prosecution and trying of serious corruption cases have been improved substantially. 

Many big corruption cases have been handled strictly and on schedule such as the cases involving Phạm Công Danh, ex-Chairman of the Vietnam Construction Bank, and Hà Văn Thắm, ex-Chairman of the Oceanbank Boards of Directors. 

Among the cases monitored by the committee, eight cases with 121 defendants have been brought to the first-instance court while six other cases with 55 defendants have been brought to the court of appeal in 2016. 

The examination, supervision and auditing activities serving the fight against corruption have also been intensified, participants said. 

Through inspections, the steering committee has put forwards 11 groups of recommendations on changes in the leadership of Party and Party committees at all levels of anti-corruption work, personnel work, anti-corruption institutions, and State management in the tax and customs sectors. 

As of present, all 63 Party committees of centrally-governed cities and provinces have issued their plan of actions to implement the Politburo’s Directive 50 on strengthening the Party’s leadership of anti-corruption work. They also took up supervision of the investigation and handling of 436 corruption-related cases and crimes. – VNS