General Secretary: The fight against corruption must be "persistent, determined, consensual, comprehensive, and groundbreaking."

General Secretary To Lam pointed out that corruption is an inherent flaw of power, an "internal enemy" threatening the purity of the party and the survival of the regime.

On the morning of December 11th, at the Party Central Headquarters, the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, Waste, and Negative Phenomena (Central Steering Committee) held a national conference to summarize the work of preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative phenomena during the term of the 13th Party Congress.

General Secretary To Lam , Head of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative phenomena, attended and chaired the conference.

The conference was held in a hybrid format, combining in-person and online participation, across more than 4,000 locations including central ministries, departments, and agencies; military regions, branches of the armed forces; and provinces, cities, communes, wards, and special zones nationwide, with a total of over 190,000 delegates.

"Perseverance, determination, consensus, comprehensiveness, and breakthroughs"

Looking back at the work of preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative phenomena during the 13th Party Congress term and after 20 years of implementing the Central Resolution No. 3 of the 10th Party Congress on strengthening the Party's leadership over the work of preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative phenomena, the work has made strong progress and basically achieved the goals and requirements set forth in the resolution.

Especially during the 13th National Congress term, in the context of our country facing many difficulties, challenges, and new, unprecedented issues, the passing of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is a great loss for the Party, the State, and our people.

There was a time when officials, Party members, and the people were concerned and worried, and even foreign public opinion was closely watching whether the fight against corruption and negative practices would continue or stagnate and slow down.

Our Party has demonstrated unwavering unity, resilience, and steadfastness in leading our country through difficulties. Through concrete results, it has been affirmed that the fight against corruption, waste, and negative phenomena has not stagnated but has made significant breakthroughs, achieving many important results; contributing to building a cleaner and stronger Party and political system, promoting socio-economic development, and consolidating the people's trust in the Party, the State, and the socialist regime.

General Secretary To Lam delivers a speech. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

A major and outstanding achievement is the significant and increasingly refined understanding of the principles, guidelines, and methods of combating corruption, waste, and negative phenomena; the scope has expanded from combating corruption to combating negative phenomena and waste; the provincial-level Steering Committees have ensured seamless coordination and cooperation, overcoming the "top-down" mentality and affirming that the fight against corruption, waste, and negative phenomena is becoming more mature and in-depth.

It is clearly demonstrated that combating corruption, waste, and negative practices does not hinder but promotes socio-economic development, and punishing errant officials does not weaken the Party but makes it stronger.

The work of detecting and handling corruption is a highlight. Through these cases, the names of corrupt individuals have been exposed, demonstrating their self-serving nature and bringing to light many sophisticated corruption schemes in various fields, especially the collusion and formation of interest groups for personal gain, thus recovering the maximum amount of assets for the state.

Many cases have resulted in the recovery of 100% of the lost or misappropriated assets. Some cases involved investigations, prosecutions, and trials conducted in the absence of defendants or those who had fled, ensuring that the handling of offenders was both strict and humane. Those punished accepted the verdict wholeheartedly.

During the past term, we also disciplined 174 officials under the central government's management, including some former key leaders of the Party and State, of which 66 officials, both current and retired, were prosecuted criminally.

Preventive measures have been implemented more comprehensively and effectively, creating many noticeable changes and perfecting institutions according to new thinking. The people's trust in the Party, the State, and the regime has been enhanced. This is the most important measure of the work in preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative practices.

General Secretary To Lam delivers a speech. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

After listening to the reports and heartfelt, responsible speeches, in his concluding remarks at the Conference, General Secretary To Lam warmly praised and highly appreciated the efforts and achievements made in the fight against corruption, waste, and negative phenomena during the 13th Party Congress term.

Alongside the achievements, there are still shortcomings and limitations. The General Secretary requested that responsibilities be clearly defined, and plans and measures be developed to effectively overcome them, ensuring they are not repeated and absolutely not allowed to recur in the future.

Agreeing with the lessons outlined in the summary report, the General Secretary summarized them into ten easily memorable and implementable words: "Perseverance, determination, consensus, comprehensiveness, and breakthrough."

The General Secretary pointed out that corruption is a fundamental flaw of power, an "internal enemy" threatening the purity of the Party and the survival of the regime. This is a struggle within each individual, each agency, organization, unit, and locality, which is very difficult and complex, requiring high political determination, decisive action, and persistent and continuous effort.

“In the coming period, many large-scale projects will be implemented, and many new policies and guidelines will be applied with more ‘open’ mechanisms to promote socio-economic development. Alongside these positive aspects, there will also be potential risks of corruption, waste, and negative practices if not strictly controlled. Therefore, we must absolutely not be complacent or satisfied with the results achieved. The general spirit is to be more decisive, more effective, and more sustainable. We must be resolute and persistent in the fight against corruption, waste, and negative practices, with no forbidden areas and no exceptions, with the highest political determination from the central to the grassroots level, contributing to building a truly clean and strong Party and political system, meeting the requirements of national development in the new period,” the General Secretary emphasized.

3 requirements, 5 priorities, and 3 breakthroughs

The General Secretary clearly stated three general requirements: Combating corruption, waste, and negative practices must prioritize national interests and the interests of the people; contribute to building a clean, strong, efficient, and effective Party and political system that is truly honest, serves the people, and promotes national development.

The fight against corruption, waste, and negative practices must be resolute, persistent, and continuous, with strict but humane handling, without any forbidden areas or exceptions. At the same time, we must protect innovative and creative officials who dare to think and act for the common good, preventing them from being hindered by fear of making mistakes or taking responsibility.

A view of the conference. (Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA)

Shift strongly towards prevention, prioritizing prevention as the main focus, promoting the role and fighting spirit of Party organizations and branches, and the supervision of the people to enhance the responsibility and exemplary conduct of leaders, proactively identifying, predicting, and warning of violations early, from afar, and from the grassroots Party branches, preventing small violations from accumulating into major offenses, and preventing the recurrence of old violations.

Regarding the five key tasks, the General Secretary proposed implementing comprehensive preventive measures early, from afar, and from the root to make corruption, waste, and negative practices "impossible."

Prevention must become a mandatory requirement in all programs, plans, and tasks related to Party building, the political system, and socio-economic development of each agency, organization, and local unit at every Party branch; continue to improve the mechanism for controlling power in all fields, the higher the power, the stricter the supervision must be; thoroughly eliminate the "request-and-grant" mechanism, close all "loopholes," and prevent "group interests" from embedding themselves and manipulating policies, plans, and legal documents; implement effectively and improve the effectiveness of measures for transparency, accountability, responsibility, and control of assets and income; strengthen self-inspection and supervision from the grassroots level, from the Party branches...

Persistently promote education and practice of a culture of integrity and foster conditions that ensure cadres and Party members "do not need" and "do not want" to engage in corruption, waste, and negative practices.

Integrity education must become a regular, voluntary, and self-motivated practice, like "daily necessities like food, water, and clothing," and a mandatory requirement for all levels of education and educational institutions within each Party organization, agency, and unit. A strategy and resolute action plan must be developed to achieve the goal of building an honest nation and society with three key pillars: honest institutions, honest public service, and an honest workforce of officials and civil servants. Significant reforms to salary and housing policies must be implemented soon to ensure a decent standard of living for Party members and officials, eliminating the need for corruption, waste, and negative practices. Furthermore, judicial reform must be strengthened.

General Secretary To Lam and delegates. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Continuing the proactive approach of detecting and strictly and comprehensively handling acts of corruption, waste, and negativity according to the principles of "no forbidden zones, no exceptions," and "no favoritism," no one is allowed to cross the "red line."

Strengthening the fight against corruption, waste, and negative practices at the local level is crucial; ensuring the building of a truly honest, people-oriented, and people-serving local government apparatus at both levels is essential.

Continue to improve the organizational structure and enhance the effectiveness of coordination among functional agencies in preventing and combating corruption, waste, and negative practices.

The General Secretary pointed out three breakthroughs: a breakthrough in institutions, a task that has been actively implemented, and a focus on immediately addressing loopholes and shortcomings in legal and Party regulations to avoid blaming the legal mechanism when violations occur; and the need to quickly finalize the set of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the fight against corruption, waste, and negative practices.

We must make breakthroughs in personnel work, focusing on effectively implementing the Politburo's new regulations on personnel work, tightening discipline and order, strengthening the management and supervision of cadres, and resolutely removing corrupt, wasteful, and negative officials from the system who shirk responsibility and are afraid to act.

Every Party member and official, especially the leaders of Party committees at all levels, must set an example by voluntarily adhering to the organization, complying with regulations, overcoming temptations, and clearly understanding that public funds belong to the people and public power is for the people.

Therefore, everything must originate from the people and for the people, not for personal gain, and must not affect the people's trust. Anyone who engages in corruption, wastefulness, negative practices, or hinders innovation and the country's development not only makes a grave mistake but is also guilty against the Party, the State, and the people, and will certainly be severely punished.

We must make breakthroughs in the application of science and technology and digital transformation, ensuring openness, transparency, and accountability. We must focus on building a digital government, a digital society, and digital citizens. We must improve databases, expand electronic invoices, conduct bidding and auctions, and make information public on digital platforms. We must control assets and income using technology with a mechanism and roadmap to ensure transparency of assets throughout society. We must promote cashless payments and control large transactions through the banking system...

The General Secretary urged every Party member and official to set an example of self-reflection and self-correction, cultivating integrity. Every agency should build a transparent and disciplined working environment. Every citizen should continue to support, monitor, and contribute to this important endeavor.

With the highest political determination and the unwavering support of the people, the General Secretary is confident that we will continue to push back corruption, waste, and negative practices to contribute to the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Party. This will build our Party into a truly ethical and civilized nation, a strong, prosperous, civilized, and happy country, steadily advancing towards socialism.

At the conference, General Secretary To Lam and other Party and State leaders awarded various medals to 35 collectives and 56 individuals who had achieved outstanding results in the fight against corruption, waste, and negative phenomena.

(VNA/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tong-bi-thu-phong-chong-tham-nhung-phai-kien-tri-quyet-tam-dong-thuan-toan-dien-va-dot-pha-post1082479.vnp