Vietnam dismissed two deputy prime ministers — the most senior officials to be relieved of duties since 2017 — 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 today. Pham Binh Minh, who has held the position since late 2013, was also voted out.
The parliament didn’t provide reasons for the dismissals. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh earlier today asked the National Assembly to dismiss Minh and Dam at their requests, VnExpress news website reported.
Of the 484 delegates who voted, 476 approved the dismissals and three didn’t 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 Tran Luu Quang, 55, head of the Haiphong provincial Communist Party, to replace Dam and Minh.
Party officials in September 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 haven’t been effective in their roles or have committed wrongdoings.
The dismissals come as authorities aggressively tackle graft as part of a years-long campaign that has ensnared hundreds of officials and businessmen. The probes have defined Trong’s legacy as he serves a rare third five-year term.
Vietnam police on Thursday detained Tran Viet Thai, a former ambassador to Malaysia, for alleged abuse of power and his position as part of a probe into alleged corruption and appropriating assets occurring in the foreign ministry, Hanoi and other localities, the ministry of public security said in a statement on its website. Last month, Thai was dismissed from all party roles.
There were signs this was coming for the two top ranking officials. Late last month the two were dismissed from the powerful party Central Committee. 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 requests, Thanh Nien newspaper reported earlier.
Police recently detained Dam’s assistant on alleged abuse of power amid investigations involving Viet A Technology JSC., a maker of COVID-19 test kits. Authorities in September also detained Nguyen Quang Linh, an assistant of 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 organization of repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the pandemic. 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, and a former deputy minister of science and technology for alleged ties to bribery and abuse of power in investigations involving the test kit maker.
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 neighboring, communist 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 place to do business.
During a corruption standing committee meeting on Nov. 18, 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.
Authorities last year initiated criminal investigations of at least 4,646 individuals in about 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 at least 67 officials under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat, including 5 ministers and former ministers, 13 provincial chairs and former chairs and 20 lower level officers.
In April, police detained Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister To Anh Dung over alleged bribery while he organized repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the pandemic.
------
(Bloomberg News writers Philip J. Heijmans and Mai Ngoc Chau contributed to this article.)
