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CỔNG THÔNG TIN KINH TẾ VIỆT NAM

Social inspection to prevent corruption and waste of public property

06/08/2010 - 111 Lượt xem

Ta Ngoc Tan

Source: Communist Review, No.113-2006

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh has stressed that the struggle against corruption and waste of public property required us to strictly implement consistent counter measures. In his closing speech for the 3rd plenum of the 10th Party Central Committee (PCC) in Hanoi on July 29, he said that by making concrete Resolutions of the 10th National Party Congress, the PCC worked out ideological, political, economic and legal solutions. They include moral and lifestyle education; amendment and completion of mechanisms and regulations on the management of economic and financial matters, public property, State budget and people’s contributed funds and foreign aid to ensure transparency in these activities; reform of the State administration; inspection, monitoring and supervision, inventory and control mechanisms; and the supervision realised by the Fatherland Front, socio-political organisation, the mass media and the people; and further renewal of the salary system. In this article, we wish to further discuss an important solution to current corruption and waste of public property issues in our country. This is social supervision, including administrative supervision by State agencies and citizen supervision by the Fatherland Front, socio-political organisations, the mass media, citizen institutions and the people at large.

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Social supervision is realised by the entire social system, including State agencies and organisations, social organisations, cultural institutions, the mass media and citizens in order to warn, redress and accelerate the enforcement of the State power. Social supervision is realised by two forces. The first force is within the State apparatus, which can be called the administrative supervision system, established by the State to supervise and logically regulate State power. This includes the supervision of the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels, and inspectors of the Government and different sectors. In fact, the State mechanism was formed and operates to inspect itself and logically balance and harmonise its power. Separation of the three powers is a step to develop and complete that type of State. The self-supervision mechanism is an outcome of historical experience and a foundation to maintain State power and development. The second force represents the people and public opinion, which is also called the citizens’ supervision system. This includes non-governmental organisations, cultural institutions, citizens’ organisations, the mass media agencies, representatives of communities and the citizens themselves. To some extent, the supervision level and content of this social force can measure the development and superiority of the society. In other words, it shows social democracy as well as the development, voluntary spirit and high responsibility of people in that society.

It can be said that social supervision activities have been carried out and developed throughout the State development process. The objective demands for State existence and development lead to the development of social supervision activities and find in them a brake for social sustainable development. However, social supervision contents, forms and methods are diverse. They are closely connected to social-economic and geographical conditions, historical experience, traditional culture and the development level of each specific socio-political system.

In fact, social supervision examines, evaluates and regulates activities of agencies, organisations and individuals who are holding and enforcing the State power. It also detects, analyses, evaluates and proposes solutions to overcome shortcomings, weaknesses, wrong doings and issues which are irrational, outdated and unsuitable to social orientation and nature. Social supervision activities are also an important tool to manage and educate officials and employees in State agencies and political organisations. They regularly deter and warn them of risks and possibilities of violating State laws and the criteria of quality and morality. They remind them of their work responsibilities, discipline and order of public authorities, attitudes of respecting people and the sense of strict observance of State laws.

Social supervision activities include not only criticism but also praise of progressive and positive factors in the society. Social supervision clarifies the operation of public authorities, achievements and outcomes of the management apparatus, and progress and working capacity of civil servants, particularly leading officials. This is an objective and important condition to praise positive elements, logical placement of personnel and strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of leading and managing agencies.

So, social supervision can be seen as an especially important factor in corruption prevention and control. In fact, corruption is the abuse of power and advantages brought about by holding positions in public authorities, State-owned enterprises and specific social environments, and the appropriation of State and public property for self-interest. Importantly, social supervision is aimed at supervising State officials and civil servants who hold important positions with special privileges and interests, examining and detecting their shortcomings and mistakes in their work process and proposing measures to redress these mistakes. So, social supervision plays a big role in corruption prevention and control. Firstly, social supervision educates officials and civil servants on their citizenship and working style, deters and consolidates their responsibilities, honour and morality and drives them to learn to improve their professional knowledge and skills and working results, and to combine their own interests with those of the collective and the social regime. This is the most positive and effective way to fight corruption. Secondly, social supervision detects and evaluates the negative impact of corruption, finds out solutions to its consequences, provides personnel education methods, and specific policies and mechanisms to prevent the recurrence of corruption. In this case, both theory and practice have proved the especially important role of social supervision. Only regular supervision by each person and each civil servant in different positions can disclose complicated corruption cases which are deviously hidden.

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Compatible with people’s democracy, current social supervision in Vietnam shows the balance and harmony between administrative supervision and citizens’ supervision. Citizens’ supervision has been highlighted for the sake of people’s interests and their comprehensive development. In principle and according to Party and State policies, administrative and citizens’ supervision have organic relations for a common purpose, that is to make the operation of the State governance agencies and the entire political system as well as the role of officials and civil servants, particularly leading officials, more effective. Our Party and State encourage political, social, occupational, citizen and community organisations and all citizens to participate in social supervision. However, reality shows some obstacles still hinder the realisation of these activities, making them less effective. It can also be said that limitations and weaknesses in social supervision are a major cause of corruption and waste of public property, which have become a risk for our regime and have badly impacted on the Party’s image, the State governance efficiency, the investment environment and the nation’s credibility in the world.

- First of all, the organisation, apparatus, functions, tasks, mechanisms and sanction of the administrative supervision system are not sufficient, unclear and inconsistent. In principle, the National Assembly (NA) has the supreme power in this system. In the period between two National Assembly meetings, the NA Standing Committee, NA Councils, NA deputy delegations and deputies are entitled to carry out their supervision activities within the law. At the provincial level, the People’s Council (PC) and its agencies realise their right to administrative supervision of all activities of the local administration. However, sanctions regulating supervision contents, methods and rights of each sector are still lacking. Meanwhile, the NA and PC agencies have not sufficient human and material resources and time to implement their specific supervision activities.

- Inspection activities, particularly those against corruption and waste of public property by inspection agencies are less effective. Most of major corruption cases were not detected by inspectors. For example, the corruption in PMU 18 (Project Management Unit 18) involving a large number of Government officials who appropriated hundreds of billions of Vietnam Dong over dozens of years without the supervision and inspection of responsible agencies. People’s inspection activities within the agency were nullified.

- Citizens’ supervision activities fail to meet the needs of this mission. Insufficient and inconsistent legal documents do not allow the citizens and their organisations to effectively participate in social inspection. Particularly, laws, sanctions and conditions are lacking to ensure effective supervision and protect the honor, interests and sometimes lives of those who detect and denounce cases of corruption, wastefulness and negative practices against the Party and State policies.

- The mass media have exposed many major negative practices, brought them to the public court and accelerated the settling process. The press has really become an important supervision tool, leading the fight against corruption and wastefulness. Their great strength has generated strong social pressure to deter, educate and prevent negative practices, waste and misappropriation of public property. However, due to their irresponsibility, some of them still made mistakes, published incorrect information which affected the honour and prestige of individual officials and public authorities, agencies and economic organisations. Particularly, with a biased view, they often write about cases of negative practices in an effort to attract readers, while neglecting major achievements in construction and development. Some media sources made a model of providing scandalous information, which makes the people worry and hinders the implementation of Party guidelines and State policies. Meanwhile, hostile forces take advantage of this information to incite opposition trends, and besmear our political regime and revolutionary cause.

- Our policies on personnel, financial, monetary, land and asset management are insufficient, inconsistent and ineffective, which do not provide the necessary conditions to control citizens’ income and assets. Cash is used in most of the transactions and payments, which creates an opportunity for negative practices including wastefulness, bribery and money laundering.

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Our nation is faced with good opportunities for the construction and development of a rich people, strong country, and a fair, democratic and civilised society. The experiences and major historical achievements over the last 20 years of the Party-led renewal process, and more investment opportunities and the trend of peace and stability in the region have created favourable conditions for Vietnam to stabilise its socio-political situation, improve people’s lives and integrate into the international economy. However, our development process has confronted many major challenges, one of which is "the political, ideological, moral and lifestyle degradation of some Government officials and Party members together with red-tape, corruption, and wastefulness is serious."1 The struggle against corruption and waste of public property is aimed to strictly manage and effectively use economic resources in the national development process, protect State officials, strengthen the management efficiency of the political system, consolidate the people’s confidence in the Party and the social regime and maintain socio-political stability. It also contributes to strengthening national solidarity and foiling all destructive schemes of hostile forces. At its recent 10th National Congress, our Party showed its great and consistent political determination in the prevention and control of corruption and wastefulness. This policy meets the people’s wish, shows their will and is supported by the people.

However, corruption and wastefulness are found at all levels, branches and localities in Vietnam involving complex practices, complicated social relations and causes and legal conditions. That is why the fight against them is very arduous and cannot be completed within a day and night. This requires us to consistently combine diverse measures, including social supervision.

In order to make social supervision activities really effective in corruption and wastefulness prevention and control, they should cover all direct and indirect factors affecting these behaviours such as:

- Supervision of the working schedule of all agencies in the political system, including the selection and order of solving political, economic and social issues;

- Supervision of the law-making and enforcement process including the preparation of law contents and by-law documents, responsibilities and behaviour of public authorities’ agencies, officials and civil servants in strictly complying with and enforcing the laws;

- Supervision of the policy-making and implementation process including contents and compatibility of policies with laws and interests of the nation, communities and citizens, responsibilities and rights of agencies and individuals in policy implementation, and policies’ actual effectiveness;

- Supervision of the implementation of official business by State governance agencies and organisations and civil servants working in these agencies;

- Supervision of organisational and personnel work, including the quality, working efficiency and capacity, behaviour and conduct, ethics, lifestyle and attitudes of civil servants in their relations with the people;

- Supervision of social services, including the handling and implementation of social services compatible with the responsibilities of agencies and organisations of the State and the political system.

These activities are carried out by the administrative supervision and citizens’ supervision systems at the same time. The two systems join efforts and complement each other in the prevention and control of corruption and wastefulness. The administrative supervision system with professional supervision agencies will supervise complicated and professional cases such as the working programme of public authorities, the law and policy-making process, the use of financial resources, and technical and technological matters. With the development of science and technology and the growing size of construction projects, the supervision of these fields will become more difficult and complicated. For example, the supervision of information technology projects and matters relating to software, and large-scale construction projects with many complicated areas, or State-owned projects in which the investment return can be evaluated only after a long time.

The citizens’ supervision system, although not very professional, can work regularly, continuously and on a wider range. The people can supervise the ethics and lifestyle of officials and civil servants and other sensitive issues that administrative supervision agencies cannot approach. Because, finally, the absolute size of citizens’ supervision system is the entire populace. When the people all are aware of their responsibility to supervise, no case of corruption and waste of public property can escape the punishment of law. In reality, most of the corruption and misappropriation of public property are denounced by the people or detected by the mass media. So, developing and promoting the strength of the citizens’ supervision system is especially important. This can flag and prevent cases of corruption and wastefulness and show the nature of the State of the people, by the people and for the people and the primary objective of the socialist revolution, which is creating further conditions for the people’s comprehensive development.

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Social supervision is especially important in preventing and controlling current corruption and wastefulness in our country. However, social supervision can only be effective in certain conditions.

First of all, social supervision should be led by the Party, in order to protect and strengthen the political regime. This can be seen in the Party’s awareness and political determination in making social supervision stronger and more effective in order to ensure social discipline, order and fairness and protect and promote all resources for the construction of the socialist homeland. This also means that while promoting the role of social supervision in the prevention and control of corruption and wastefulness we should prevent schemes and ploys which take advantage of this policy to slander and besmear officials and civil servants, causing suspicion and undermining solidarity within the people and the regime.

Secondly, social supervision should be conducted in conditions of a law-governed State, in which State powers are clearly divided and combined, particularly identifying the relative independence of the judicial power and the complementary nature of the legal system.

Third, the social supervision should be provided with sufficient resources to be strong enough to carry out its mission. Principles and relations in a mechanism between components in the social supervision system and between its agencies, organisations and individuals with State authorities’ agencies should be completed soon.

Fourth, the mass media should be developed and managed as a very important tool in supervision activities. With its huge influence on the society and regular and strict relations with all information outlets in the entire country and the capacity to create a strong social pressure in settling emerging issues, mass media agencies are very adept at realising social supervision activities against corruption and wastefulness. However, if information on corruption carried by the press is put in a social-psychological context, it is negative. With an overdose of information and illogical communication methods, they can have a negative impact on the social psyche and make people lose confidence in the regime or cause a negative response or resort to adventurous violent action harmful to the society. This is not to mention the fact that some media agencies carry inaccurate information which can make unpredictable losses to economic agencies, organisations and citizens. So, it can be said that it is vital to have a management method to ensure that the press will carry logical and positive information in the prevention and control of corruption and waste of public property.

Fifth, it is difficult to make social supervision against corruption and waste of public property effective without a consistent policy system which is realised to make the social environment healthy and erase conditions that directly lead to cases of corruption and wastefulness. First of all, we should mention the policy on equitable salary distribution, the policy on financial, monetary and personnel management, and the policy on protection those who are active in the struggle against corruption and wastefulness. Currently, there is a large gap in income between different working people, even between those having the same professional knowledge and skills and working in the same conditions. Particularly, civil servants working in Party and State authorities’ agencies, the Fatherland Front, socio-political organisations and administrative supervision agencies currently receive much lower salaries than those in some other agencies and organisations. Finally transactions remain in cash in Vietnamese Dong and foreign currencies.

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The struggle against corruption and waste of public property is urgent but long-term and complicated. This is the responsibility of the Party, the State, all Party members, Government officials and people at large. Social supervision is only a solution or a tool to reach its objectives. However, this is a solution of primary importance. The development and operation of a strong, complete and consistent social supervision system can detect corruption and misappropriation of State property and timely prevent the occurrence of such cases. In the long-term, it can educate and warn officials and civil servants of their behaviour and conduct and prevent the root causes of corruption and wastefulness.