Officials have one foot in and one foot out, how to avoid conflicts of interest?

(Dan Tri) - According to National Assembly delegates, it is necessary to stipulate that "civil servants are not allowed to invest, contribute capital, operate or guarantee for enterprises or organizations in the same field of expertise as their unit" to avoid conflicts of interest.

This is one of the contents that many National Assembly delegates are interested in when discussing the revised Law on Civil Servants on the morning of November 13.

Avoid shifting benefits from the public to the private sector

Regarding the principles of public employee management, the draft revised Law on Public Employees stipulates "decentralization, delegation of authority, ensuring comprehensive autonomy of public service units associated with the responsibility of the head".

Delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (HCMC) suggested considering adding the content of "establishing a mechanism to control conflicts of interest and a mechanism to protect civil servants who dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility for the common interest".

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (Photo: Hong Phong).

According to him, this is an important requirement to ensure legal safety for the enforcement team, encourage innovation but still within the framework of public power control.

Commenting on what civil servants are not allowed to do, delegate Hung said that the draft law has not yet clarified the scope of the prohibition on participating in business activities. He proposed to clearly stipulate that "civil servants are not allowed to invest, contribute capital, operate or guarantee for enterprises or organizations that have the same professional field as their unit".

Such expansion of the ban aims to prevent the situation of "one foot in one foot out" and avoid conflicts of interest, especially in the fields of health, education , and scientific research - where the boundary between public service and private interests is easily confused, according to the delegate.

This draft law also allows civil servants to sign labor contracts and service contracts with other agencies and organizations if not prohibited by law, but according to Mr. Hung, it is necessary to add the obligation to declare, report and get written approval from the head before signing.

At the same time, he suggested regulating a "cooling off" period of at least 24 months after leaving a management position before being allowed to participate in managing a private organization in the same field.

“This helps ensure transparency and avoid transferring benefits from the public sector to the private sector,” Mr. Hung stated his opinion.

Create conditions for civil servants to improve their lives

Delegate Cao Thi Xuan ( Thanh Hoa ) agreed with the regulation that civil servants have the right to sign contracts to carry out professional activities and business activities.

According to her, these are regulations aimed at taking advantage of the capacity and professional experience of civil servants in their professional activities to contribute to society, especially jobs requiring high expertise in the fields of health and education, while at the same time, increasing legitimate income for civil servants.

National Assembly Delegate Cao Thi Xuan (Photo: Hong Phong).

“The provisions in the draft law are consistent with the general policy and trend in reform and innovation to maximize all resources for national development, while also creating conditions for civil servants to have the opportunity to improve their lives and income to become independent in their lives,” said Ms. Xuan.

Compared to the current law, this provision has been expanded, but according to Ms. Xuan, this content is still not strict enough in ensuring the principle of "must complete all tasks and responsibilities of a State official before participating in outside work".

“Without a strict monitoring mechanism, the main task may become secondary and the quality of basic essential public services will not be guaranteed,” Ms. Xuan worried, suggesting that the drafting agency carefully review and supplement regulations to avoid risks.

According to the female delegate, the Government can be assigned to provide detailed regulations so that there will be more time to calculate measures to ensure feasibility, effectiveness and efficiency in managing the civil servant team.

National Assembly Delegate Ha Sy Dong (Photo: Hong Phong).

Meanwhile, delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri) emphasized the need to transform the civil servant management mechanism according to the principle that "job position is the center for recruiting, using and managing civil servants".

According to him, partial autonomy should not be given, but instead, public service units should be given comprehensive autonomy (in terms of organization, human resources, finance, etc.) to carry out their tasks.

Regarding job positions, Mr. Dong proposed to add regulations on methods for determining job positions and assign the Government to prescribe the determination method for unified implementation. "Job positions and number of employees should be assigned to public service units to decide on their own," according to the delegate's recommendation.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/vien-chuc-duoc-chan-trong-chan-ngoai-lam-sao-tranh-xung-dot-loi-ich-20251113104126174.htm