“Elephant through needle's eye” causes serious loss of trust

“An elephant can pass through the eye of a needle” is the lament of many people, especially in agencies, units, and localities where officials and civil servants (or relatives of officials and civil servants) blatantly violate Party regulations and State laws, but the authorities “don’t know” and don’t handle it.

After all, these "elephant-through-the-eye-of-a-needle" incidents are the leading cause of a decline in confidence in the Party and State among a number of cadres, party members and people; and are the risk of manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation".

1. In the localities where we met and talked with the people, we heard many stories about the phenomenon of "elephants going through the eye of a needle", such as: The homestay area was brazenly built on agricultural land belonging to the younger brother of a provincial official!; the house of a district leader was built 2 floors higher than the permit, much higher than the houses built according to regulations, but was not handled at all?; the vice chairman of the commune did not finish high school, the villagers whispered but did not understand why he still had a university degree, still got promoted; the land that our family had lived on since our ancestors' time, we requested many times but still could not get a red book, while the agricultural land that the officials' families encroached on had all been red books; that beer house had occupied the entire sidewalk for many years but was not demolished because there were officials "protecting" it, other houses were reminded and fined as soon as they put out a few chairs...

Illustration photo.

What is very worrying is that when telling stories like the above, people often express their dissatisfaction. Not only are they upset with the officials and people directly involved in the violations "the whole village and the whole street know but the authorities "don't know" and don't handle it!", but some people also express their lack of trust in the local Party committees and authorities, the discipline of the law, and even their reduced confidence in the leadership of the Party and the management of the State.

For example, recently, the use of a fake master's degree by Mr. Nguyen Cong Thang, Chairman of the Inspection Committee of Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee, has caused public outrage, because despite going through so many levels and so many inspections, the "elephant" still escaped; many people asked: Is there any cover-up or assistance for this official?...

Or most of all, there is the situation of illegal construction or construction exceeding the granted permit that officials and authorities "turn a blind eye". Questioning the Minister of Construction at the end of 2022 meeting, delegate Nguyen Thi Thuy, Deputy Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Judicial Committee, pointed out the reality in many places: People only need to carry a truck of sand to make small repairs to a house in a deep alley, and local officials and construction inspectors will know right away; however, there are large construction projects with "terrible" violations right on the street that the authorities "do not detect"! A typical case is the case of "pipe tycoon" Le Thanh Than who brazenly "illegally built" an entire high-rise apartment building in Kien Hung ward (Ha Dong, Hanoi) but the local authorities "did not know", until the home buyers here could not get a certificate of land use rights and then discovered it (!).

2. Perhaps every cadre and party member knows the reminder and teaching of President Ho Chi Minh: "A living example is worth more than a hundred propaganda speeches" and "In front of the masses, we cannot be loved by them just by writing the word "communist" on our foreheads. The masses only love those with character and morality. To guide the people, we must set an example for them to follow."

Throughout the process of leading the revolution, our Party has always required cadres and party members to be exemplary, first of all the leaders. In particular, in recent years, the Party has issued many resolutions, directives, conclusions and regulations on cadres and party members being exemplary, such as: Resolution of the 4th Central Committee (term XI, XII) and Conclusion of the 4th Central Committee Conference, term XIII on Party building and rectification; Regulation No. 101-QD/TW dated June 7, 2012 of the Party Central Committee Secretariat on the responsibility of setting examples of cadres and party members, especially key leaders at all levels; Regulation No. 55-QD/TW dated December 19, 2016 of the Politburo on a number of urgent tasks to strengthen the exemplary role of cadres and party members; Regulation No. 08-QDi/TW dated October 25, 2018 of the Central Executive Committee on the responsibility of setting an example for cadres and party members, first of all members of the Politburo, members of the Secretariat, and members of the Central Executive Committee; Regulations on things party members are not allowed to do...

The Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress determined: “Strictly implement the Party's regulations on the responsibility to set an example; the higher the position, the more exemplary one must be. Party members voluntarily set an example to affirm their leadership position, pioneering and exemplary role, creating a spread and promoting revolutionary movements. Setting an example is the responsibility, duty and morality of Party members before the people; that responsibility to set an example must be demonstrated from political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, self-criticism and criticism to relations with the masses, responsibility in work, sense of organization and discipline, and internal solidarity”.

In fact, in recent years, the Party and State have resolutely handled many cadres and party members who have committed violations and shortcomings with the spirit of "no forbidden zones, no exceptions, regardless of who the person is". From 2012 to 2022, the whole country has disciplined 2,740 party organizations and more than 167,700 cadres and party members who have committed violations, of which more than 190 cadres are under the management of the Central Committee. Since the beginning of the 13th National Congress term, 1,304 cases/3,523 defendants have been prosecuted and investigated for corruption crimes (an increase of more than 2 times in the number of cases and more than 3 times in the number of defendants compared to the first half of the 12th National Congress term of the Party); Disciplinary action was taken against 91 officials under the Central Committee's management, including 17 members and former members of the Party Central Committee (nearly 2 times higher than the first half of the 12th Congress term)... This shows that our Party and State do not cover up or tolerate officials and Party members who violate the law.

However, the "elephant passing through the eye of a needle" incidents that people still see in many agencies, units, and localities, especially at the grassroots level, are still very alarming. It is worth noting that information is currently spreading very quickly and widely through the internet and social networks, having a huge impact on the thoughts, feelings, and psychology of people and public opinion. Moreover, in the civilized era, a truly democratic society is truly indignant and indignant at the incidents of cadres and party members having privileges, benefits, corruption, and negativity, especially the blatant disregard for the discipline and laws of the country. If the "elephant passing through the eye of a needle" phenomenon still exists, the trust of cadres, party members, and people in the Party and the State will be seriously reduced; if it is not resolutely and effectively prevented, it will be a danger to the Party, leading to unpredictable consequences. This is one of the leading causes of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party.

3. The ancients have concluded that “Losing trust is losing everything” and “The people are the ones who push the boat, the people are the ones who capsize the boat”. Understanding the extreme danger of cadres and party members “saying one thing and doing another” as well as allowing negative incidents like “An elephant goes through the eye of a needle” to occur, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has repeatedly emphasized: If cadres are not exemplary, the people will not trust them; the higher the position of cadres, the more they must be pioneers and exemplary... At the mid-term conference of the 13th Party Central Committee, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong pointed out: “The focus is to prevent and combat the degradation of political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle among cadres and party members, considering this the root of all problems”...

The Resolution on the Strategy for National Defense in the New Situation, recently issued by the 8th Central Conference, 13th tenure, also determined: Improving the Party's leadership, governance and fighting capacity, and setting an example. Building a contingent of cadres at all levels, especially at the strategic level, with leaders who have sufficient qualities, ethics, capacity, prestige, and strategic vision. Building a clean, strong and comprehensive Party and political system that operates effectively and efficiently...

Improve the effectiveness of inspection, supervision and party discipline; fight against corruption and negativity; strictly handle officials with wrong motives, localism, factionalism, "group interests"... At the same time, the resolution also clearly states the motto of relying on the strength of the people, "the people are the root", the center, the subject; build a solid "people's heart position", "people's peace" is the decisive factor for the victory of the cause of building and defending the Fatherland; must maintain and consolidate people's trust, create social consensus...

In recent times, our Party and State have issued many resolutions, directives, and legal documents clearly defining the responsibilities of cadres, party members, civil servants, and public employees (including the responsibility to set an example) as well as the responsibilities of party committees at all levels, authorities, organizations in the political system, and the people in inspection and supervision work with the motto of promptly detecting and resolutely and strictly handling violations, cleaning up the ranks, consolidating and strengthening people's trust in the Party and State...

In order for these resolutions, directives, regulations and guidelines to be effectively implemented, we need to resolutely and synchronously implement many measures, but I think the most important thing is to thoroughly apply the historical lesson of "relying on the people" in accordance with the motto "People know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit" that our Party has determined.

In particular, there should be more specific regulations and rules to maximize the responsibility and eyes of millions of people, promptly detect and denounce cadres and party members who have committed violations and shortcomings; especially, there must be a convenient and quick system for receiving denunciations and a mechanism to protect and reward those who make correct denunciations. Along with that, we must resolutely pursue responsibility to the end, strictly handle cadres and functional agencies that let violations like "elephants passing through the eye of a needle" occur, seriously affecting people's trust in the discipline and law of the country; do not let hostile and reactionary forces have an excuse to take advantage of, attack, distort and sabotage our Party and State.

Ta Ngoc (According to qdnd.vn)

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