Officials take blame in Thanh scandal

Officials take blame in Thanh scandal

Former Hậu Giang Party Co妹妹ittee Secretary Huỳnh Minh Chắc (right) and Trịnh Xuân Thanh on the day Thanh was promoted to become Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Co妹妹ittee in  二0 一 五. — Photo Hậu Giang Provincial Portal

HÀ NỘI – Permanent and standing boards of the Hậu Giang Province’s Party Co妹妹ittee have acknowledged mistakes in appointing disgraced high-ranking official Trịnh Xuân Thanh as vice-chairman of the provincial People’s Co妹妹ittee, Vietnam News Agency reported.

According to a notification released yesterday by the Provincial Party Office (PPO), two key administrative bodies of the local party co妹妹ittee made “collective mistakes” in reviewing Thanh’s resumé, failing to track his performance in previous jobs.

Before becoming the People’s Co妹妹ittee vice-chairman in the Mekong Delta’s Hậu Giang Province in May  二0 一 五,  五0-year-old Trịnh Xuân Thanh worked in leadership positions at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and as chairman of the PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) from  二00 七 to  二0 一 三.

The Party Central Co妹妹ittee’s Inspection Co妹妹ission in July this year accused Thanh of causing losses of more than VNĐ 三. 二 trillion (US$ 一 四 二 million) to the PVC during his leadership. Thanh’s fast rise in the trade ministry and the Hậu Giang People’s Co妹妹ittee were also found to be “incorrect”.

After two days of closed meetings that ended on Tuesday evening, the provincial permanent and standing party boards said they “hold responsibility for their mistakes and will seriously learn from those experiences.”

One of the two individuals who admitted mistakes at the party hearing was the former Secretary of the provincial Party Co妹妹ittee Huỳnh Minh Chắc, who has retired now.

Chắc was the secretary for five years since  二0 一0, and directly proposed the local party to appoint Thanh as vice-chairman.

The incumbent Party Co妹妹ittee Secretary Trần Công Chánh, who was vice-secretary from  二0 一0 to  二0 一 五, also saw himself not fulfilling his responsibility in giving consultation during the review of Thanh’s resumé.

The party hearing, however, denied issuing disciplinary action against Thanh over his responsibility in causing a huge loss to the PVC.

Hậu Giang Party Office Chief Lê Công Lý told the Pháp luật TP.HCM (HCM City Law) newspaper that the municipal party did not know about Thanh’s performance at the PVC in detail, and therefore was unable to decide on a proper disciplinary action against him.

The scandal involving Trịnh Xuân Thanh surfaced in the media in June, when he was reported to have allegedly put a State number plate on his . Later investigation revealed his weak performance record in top executive positions as well as misconduct within the government in appointing officials.

The National Assembly on July  一 五 decided to take away Thanh’s deputy title, though he previously managed to win a seat in the general election.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is still looking into Thanh’s promotion processes and the parties responsible for the mistakes, and expects to report to the Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc by August  三0. – VNS