Vietnam dismisses two deputy PMs amid corruption probes
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Vietnam's National Assembly voted to dismiss DPMs Vu Duc Dam and Pham Binh Minh from office.
PHOTO: AFP
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HANOI - Vietnam dismissed two deputy prime ministers amid lengthy investigations driven by a campaign to clean up corruption and protect the Communist Party’s legitimacy.
The National Assembly voted to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam from office during a four-day special session that began on Thursday. Mr Pham Binh Minh, who has also held the position since late 2013, was also voted out.
Parliament did not provide reasons for the dismissals. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh earlier on Thursday asked the National Assembly to dismiss Mr Dam and Mr Minh at their request, reported VnExpress news website.
Of the 484 delegates who voted, 476 approved the dismissals and three did not vote, according to a tally provided by the National Assembly.
Delegates also voted to approve Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha, 59, and head of the Haiphong provincial Communist Party Tran Luu Quang, 55, as replacements.
In September, party officials stepped up efforts to prod officials to resign if they have been reprimanded, disciplined and are deemed to have low competency. Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has also urged timely dismissals of officials who have not been effective in their roles or have committed wrongdoings.
The dismissals come as the authorities aggressively tackle graft as part of a years-long campaign that has ensnared hundreds of officials and businessmen. The probes have defined Mr Trong’s legacy as he serves a rare third five-year term.
There were signs that this was coming for the two top-ranking officials. Late in December, they were dismissed from the powerful party central committee. Mr Minh, a former foreign minister, was also dismissed from the Politburo, which plays a leading role in the country’s governance. The dismissals came at their request, Thanh Nien newspaper reported earlier.
The police recently detained Mr Dam’s assistant over alleged abuse of power amid investigations involving Viet A Technology JSC, a maker of Covid-19 test kits.
In September, the authorities also detained Nguyen Quang Linh, an assistant of Mr Minh’s, and Nguyen Thanh Hai, director of the Department of International Relations under the government’s coordinating office, for alleged bribery tied to the organisation of repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authorities have begun criminal proceedings against 39 individuals tied to the case.
Criminal proceedings have been initiated against 102 individuals tied to the Viet A Technology case. In June, police detained former health minister Nguyen Thanh Long, former Hanoi mayor Chu Ngoc Anh
Mr Trong has warned that corruption could put the party’s legitimacy at risk as the public grows more intolerant of graft – echoing President Xi Jinping in neighbouring China. In one of the biggest cases to date, former Vietnam Politburo member Dinh La Thang was sentenced in 2018 to 18 years in prison for violating state regulations.
Vietnam, a country of roughly 100 million people, also has much to gain economically if it can bolster its image as a place to do business.
During a corruption standing committee meeting on Nov 18, Mr Trong pointed to slow progress in handling some major graft cases and called for stronger actions to be taken, according to his speech posted on the government’s website.
In 2022, the authorities initiated criminal investigations into 4,646 individuals in 2,474 cases for alleged violations tied to corruption, abuse of power and economic wrongdoings. Since early 2021, the Politburo and the party have disciplined 67 officials under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat, including five ministers and former ministers, 13 provincial chairmen and former chairmen, and 20 lower-level officers.
Last April, police detained Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister To Anh Dung
