Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc, former Director of Vietnam Party History Institute:  It is very important to persevere in building a "culture of integrity"

First of all, the largest-scale conference so far has continued to affirm the Party leadership's political determination and focus on the task of combating corruption and negative phenomena. It has largely raised awareness and continuously created a national unity from the central to grassroots level on the matter. The results of anti-corruption works are tangible. The number of corruption cases detected, their scales, the ways of handling them, and the number of convicted perpetrators who are party members, have shown the remarkable success of the campaign, which is considered much more effective than the previous ones. But as pointed out by the General Secretary, numbers are important, but even more important are the lessons learned and what should be done next to continue the work of"cleaning up" the political apparatus and its staff.

The reasons for such successes, as emphasized by the General Secretary, rely on the fact that the anti-corruption campaign has become a truly revolutionary movement, a trend in the Party, the political system, and the whole society, making it impossible for everyone to remain on the sidelines but contribute to them. The obtained results also affirm that the Party has been consistent in saying and doing. There are no forbidden zones, no exceptions.

This proves that the Party has the capacity and courage to repel corruption and wrongdoings. This conference also drew out theoretical lessons and practical experiences to set out a new action plan. 

Overview of the National Conference on 10 years of combating corruption and negativity in the period 2012-2022. Photo: VNA

In particular, an issue that continues to be emphasized by the General Secretary is corruption associated with power. It shows that efficiently perfecting the mechanism and controlling power remains an urgent task to promptly prevent loopholes for corruption from arising.

 “Power must be controlled by mechanism.” Through practice, I realize that it is necessary to focus on both controlling responsibilities and building mechanisms to control vertically and horizontally.

I think that, in the coming time, solutions outlined by the General Secretary for both prevention and control of corruption must be carried out synchronously to create a synergy. Among them, it is very important to persevere in building a "culture of integrity, no corruption and negativity" among public servants, party members, and the people. First of all, words must go hand in hand with action. Education must be persevering for officials and party members. Those in decision-making positions must respect their integrity and be ashamed when themselves and their relatives commit corrupt and negative acts. 

Delegates at the National Conference on 10 years of combating corruption and negativity in the period 2012-2022. Photo: VNA

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Thi An, former National Assembly deputy: People's confidence has been greatly improved

The anti-corruption results shown at the last conference proved the Party’s Central Committee has fulfilled its "commitment" not to make exceptions, and not to leave perpetrators a safe retirement, no matter who they are, the culprits will be punished. The number of cases being handled now is higher than that in the previous years. Many high-ranking officials have been punished. Many particularly serious and complicated cases involving many people holding positions that are considered "sensitive" have been brought to trial where strict punishments have been handed down. In addition to dealing with corruption, the Party’s Central Committee also gives drastic instructions in recovering assets to minimize the property loss for the State and the people.

Thanks to those efforts, the people's confidence in the central level's determination to combat corruption and negative phenomena has been greatly enhanced. Most recently, a policy on setting up local anti-corruption steering committees has shown more clearly the Party and State's strong resolve in tackling this plague.

I believe once the combat against corruption and negative phenomena becomes a major orientation, there would be a public unanimous response from the central to the local levels, or as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has repeatedly emphasized,  with the best response and unanimity, this important work will achieve even greater breakthroughs. From the valuable lessons learned over the past 10 years and the orientations pointed out by the Party's leader, all people expect the Central Committee and the Politburo will continue to promote anti-corruption work. At the same time, there must be a mechanism to prevent the risk of corruption and negativity arising right from the formulation and enforcement of policies and laws.

La Quang Thuc, Secretary of the Party Committee of Duong Noi Ward, Ha Dong District: Wrongdoings must be prevented

The instructions of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - Head of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-corruption are very realistic and relevant to the current situation. In particular, the drastic directions from the top to the local levels and the establishment of provincial anti-corruption steering committees have created transparency in implementation, promoting more effective actions from the grassroots levels, thereby, further strengthening the construction and rectification of the Party and inspiring more support and appreciation from all social strata. 

The General Secretary's closing speech at the conference has been highly appreciated and won the hearts of officials and people as it put forth the most fundamental issues and has great outreach.

We believe in the coming time, anti-corruption work will be taken to a new level. With synchronous solutions specified by the Party leader, it will contribute not only to fighting corrupt acts but also to preventing wrongdoings. Certainly in the near future, measures to prevent corruption, as well as perfect mechanisms and policies on anti-corruption, will continue to be strengthened. 

Nguyen Van Thuy, Deputy Secretary of the local Party Committee and Head of the residential group 10 in Lieu Giai Ward, Ba Dinh District: Creating a top-down synchronous movement.

The conference reviewing 10 years of fighting corruption was not only a chance for the Party to draw lessons from experience and apply them in the new period but also showed the Party's resoluteness in the fight against this " enemy within", creating a top-down synchronous movement. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's speech has spread the Party's will and inspired all authorities, departments, agencies, and localities. 

Since the beginning of the 13th tenure of the Party Congress, many central officials have been disciplined, which shows that the anti-corruption work continues to make strong breakthroughs, leaving a good imprint, creating a positive effect, and spreading throughout the society. It has been highly appreciated by party members and people. Following the progress of the conference, people assimilated the Party leader's instructions. He emphasized that all those participating in the anti-corruption are people of "integrity, courage and moral rectitude". That means they are selfless, brave, straight, fair, and honest persons who are not tempted by any interests or fear any obstacle. By so being, they will earn the people’s trust and fulfill their tasks assigned by the Party and People.

The national conference on anti-corruption has really set a new breakthrough, becoming a milestone in the fight against corruption and negativity to "clean up" the apparatus of the Party and State and strengthen confidence among people, creating a healthy environment to serve the development of the country.

Lawyer Nguyen Ngoc Hung, Head of Ket Noi Law Office: Closing policy loopholes  to prevent corruption

The results presented at the national conference on 10 years of combat against corruption and negativity have shown that the Party's building and rectification have made an important contribution to promoting socio-economic development, maintaining political stability, and strengthening national defense, security, and foreign affairs. Especially, they have helped regain and ensure people's confidence, refuting the false accusations of hostile forces.

Over the years, the Party and State have focused on developing institutions for the fight against corruption and negativity, drastically handling corruption and wrongdoing cases by applying many mechanisms, solutions, and effective methods without letting themselves be swayed by any organization or individual. From a legal perspective, the prevention of corruption is also practical and consistent with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, in accordance with the 2013 Constitution and the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code on corruption crimes and influence peddling. Expanding anti-corruption and negativity prevention to the private sector is necessary, however, issues still persist and anti-corruption institutions need further improvement.

On the other hand, fighting corruption should not be the purpose of the Anti-corruption Law only. It should also be taken into consideration in the perfection of other laws such as the Land Law, the Law on Public Investment, and the Law on Bidding, among others. Corruption in certain fields should be handled by specialized laws, but currently, there are loopholes that provide opportunities for officials and businesses to commit irregularities. This is an issue that needs to be solved.

The illustration photo: Say No to Corruption