Party vows to continue war on corruption

straight to the sin bin:The government is to investigate allegations of corruption in the

“Failure to eliminate red tape, corruption and waste at state agencies, especially in construction, property and state budget spending have caused worry and discontent among the public,” Politburo member and standing member of the Party Secretariat Phan Dien said. Dien was speaking at a gathering of the central steering committee in Hanoi last week to discuss revamping the Party apparatus and fighting corruption and waste of public assets.
Although the campaign to cleanse and strengthen the Party and the war against corruption and waste has achieved initial results, it has not completely eliminated these “negative phenomena”, he said, but has only helped send warning messages.
“In the fight against corruption and negative activities, action is better than words,” Dien told the meeting.
However, he pointed out, “the campaign has generated some progress in various spheres”. The most obvious progress, according to Party officials, was in building political and economic institutions in an open and democratic way.
Increased inspection of state agencies and some major court hearings, which handed down heavy sentences to Party members, had also helped improve matters, Dien said.
The Party’s attentiveness to public concerns has helped reduce “hot places” across the country, he said, referring to people’s discontent.
The rotation of party posts – a policy which leaders said helped sharpen management skills and the political orientations of members – introduced over two years ago, had also “produced positive results”, he said. In late 2002, several Party officials, including two powerful central party committee members, received harsh sentences for their involvement in the Nam Cam criminal ring. Last year, two deputy ministers of agriculture and rural development were dismissed from their posts and convicted of abetting and benefiting from the embezzlement of millions of dollars of government money. In a scandal last month, a deputy sports minister was arrested for having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. The case will come to court soon.
In the central Party committee’s latest closed meeting, this year, General Secretary Nong Duc Manh said the continuing corruption and decadent morals and lifestyles of some state employees had raised concern among the people. Party leaders vowed at the meeting to crack down on this kind of behaviour.