(VOVworld) – The National Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Combat met on Wednesday to map out specific tasks for the rest of the year. The National Assembly’s Judicial Committee on Thursday held a meeting to review the detection and handling of corruption cases in Government agencies. The meetings have illustrated the government’s determination to combat and wipe out corruption.
The Party Central Committee’s Internal Affairs Commission met in May |
Anti-corruption since the beginning of this year has obtained positive results. Worthy of note is the establishment and organizational reinforcement of the National Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Combat, the Party Central Committee’s Internal Affairs Commission, and provincial and cities’ Internal Affairs Commissions. Investigation teams on land management and usage, capital construction investment, and budget management and spending detected violations of 600 million USD and recovered 250 million USD for the State budget. Legal agencies prosecuted 116 cases involving 266 defendants on charges of corruption.
Government Chief Inspector Huynh Phong Tranh said corruption in some state management sectors has been reduced but in some sensitive sectors such as credit, banking, land management and use, construction, and state budget and asset management have seen more complicated violations. Corruption investigation and punishment have faced obstacles due to a lack of regulations to ensure effective follow-up of investigators’ findings.
Specific measures are needed to achieve the set targets on combating corruption. The National Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Combat agreed on 8 key tasks, which include finalizing a mechanism on corruption prevention and combat, issuing regulations on the accountability of government agencies, and boosting projects to monitor the implementation of asset declaration and control the incomes of high-ranking officials. The meetings discussed the operation of investigation plans, supervision of inspection, investigation, and prosecution, and trying serious corruption cases. The Steering Committee will focus on corruption cases and economic crimes which show implicit signs of serious corruption. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is Head of the National Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Combat. “The Internal Affairs Commission is in charge of meetings among heads of relevant agencies to discuss obstacles and punishments. If there are any pending issues, the Commission will report to the National Steering Committee on corruption prevention and combat. We are determined to do what we have decided.”
Mechanisms and policies on corruption prevention and combat have been obstacles for administrative agencies in inspecting and handling corruption cases. Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh city Bar Association, suggests: “In order to minimize corruption and group interest, the State has to strictly monitor administrative procedures which have the potential to generate group interest and adjust them to match reality. It’s important to have a mechanism to control the power of the authorized people to avoid the gathering of interest groups. High-ranking leaders have to regularly monitor their sub-ordinates and increase the transparency of administrative procedures to allow the people to supervise the performance of state employees.”
Corruption prevention and combat is a long-term and complicated task in economic development and consolidating the people’s trust in the administration.
Vu Duy/ Phuong Chi