General Secretary After the closing session of the 10th National Party Congress, a 40-minute press briefing was held in the International Conference Center. General Secretary Nong Duc Manh answered questions of local and foreign press agencies.
Nong Duc Manh
Why is the number of workers attending the Congress small?
* Lao Dong Newspaper: Mr. General Secretary, why is the number of workers attending the Congress still rare, although we stated “the Vietnamese Communist Party is the leading force of the working class”?
* General Secretary Nong Duc Manh: The Vietnamese working class is developing in terms of quantity, academic qualifications and knowledge. However, the rate of university-level workers is low. I think the number of skilled workers and officers is higher in businesses and service sector. We should pay more attention to them so that they can participate in Party activities.
* Viet Nam Law Newspaper: Could you please tell us what you failed to achieve in the last term? What worries you the most in the next term? Is it the fight against corruption?
* The achievements of the past five years have been so great. The achievements of 20 years of Renovation are also of historical significance, but there are sill weaknesses and shortcomings. What worries me the most is how to create more sustainable and faster development of our country; virtues should be promoted and weaknesses should be reduced.
Take the fight against corruption as an example. In the 10th Congress Resolution and the review on the leadership of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat, this matter has been taken very seriously. We need to be persistent and patient in finding measures to deal with it as this can not be solved overnight. We should relentlessly punish offending individuals, build a strong legal system and ensure a tight control in management, and then I am confident that the fight will be won.
I think that legal building is as important as corruption prevention. How to face the truth and make it better is the wish of the people, cadres and Party members. I also have many other concerns, including poverty, the gap between people of different classes and difficulties of remote areas.
Corruption: Deterioration of Party members
* South China Morning Post (Hong Kong): What is the cause of corruption? How to root it out?
* It is difficult to tell all the causes of corruption. There are many causes, such as the ethical deterioration of Party members and officials, egoism or bad education, management and discipline. There should be bold measures to tackle the problem.
* Tuoi Tre Newspaper: It was planned that the number of Politburo members will be 15 to 17 and that of Secretariat members will be 11. So why are they 14 and 8 respectively, at present?
* At first, we intended to divide the responsibilities evenly among the cadres in charge of all fields to ensure a comprehensive leadership role. However, it is based on criteria that they have been elected. There may be supplementary election in the future, if necessary.
What is new in the congress is that a vote of confidence was conducted to find candidates for the position of General Secretary and the final election of the General Secretary post was based on that. By the way, I want to thank the Party Central Committee for putting their trust in me.
Personnel of the State and the Government: It will be discussed by the government and the National Assembly
* Reuters: Has the Central Committee introduced Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung to the National Assembly for the position of Prime Minister and Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet for the position of State President?
* Under the Constitution and the law of Viet Nam, the National Assembly and the government will discuss leadership personnel of the State and the government in the time ahead.
* Reuters: Economic competition in Viet Nam is clearly happening, so when will there be political competition?
* An open and democratic atmosphere of the Vietnamese economy has been felt by many foreign journalists. The awareness of nation-building in 20 years of Renovation has showed a common aspiration among the people. I think that economic competition is becoming a fact of life. In order to prepare for Viet Nam’s entry into WTO, we have approved the regulations to allow healthy competitions in the economy.
In terms of politics, democratic atmosphere is getting better. Opinions of the people are increasingly accepted and studied by authorities for the final purpose, that is to “serve the people”, as pointed out by the Communist Party of Viet Nam. The Party’s interest is also the people’s interest. There can be different ideas, but a consensus will be reached to ensure stability for the country’s development. Most importantly, all the branches and levels should listen to the people’s opinions, even frank opinions, to reach a consensus.
* Financial Times (England): The CPV allows Party members to do business in private sector, so will it allow capitalists to join the Party?
* In fact, many Party members doing business in private sector have helped create more jobs and products and contribute to the development of the country. The 10th Congress allows Party members to run private business, with a condition that they observe the rules of the Party.
The Party Central Committee will have specific regulations on this matter in the time ahead. In a larger scale, equitization is encouraged so that people can directly develop their business and mobilize resources. We will continue to consider the possibility of admitting capitalists into the Party.
* People’s Army Newspaper: In the last term, the number of Party members being disciplined reached its record. Is it because we stepped up the crackdown, or because corruption and serious offences have become more rampant?
* Punishing offending Party members is our strong point. Many wrong-doing cases, which had not been discovered before, are inspected and detected now; thus, mistakes and shortcomings will continue to be discovered and punished. That is our strong point!
