The Vietnamese National Assembly was urged to set up a provisional committee to inspect responsibility of the government members in the Vinashin case.
The proposal was made by NA deputies Nguyen Minh Thuyet from Lang Son Province and Le Van Cuong from Thanh Hoa Province at a socio-economic discussion which highlighted the days gathering.
Inspection of government members is necessary
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| Deputy Le Van Cuong: "Each Vietnamese has to pay VND1.5 million (USD76.94) for Vinashin" |
Deputy Nguyen Minh Thuyet said the fall of Vinashin (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group) has resulted in a total debt of around VND100 trillion (USD5.12 billion) for the country.
He added that the downfall of Vinashin reminded him of the case of La Thi Kim Oanh, former Director of Investment, Promotion and Marketing Company under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
In December 2003, Oanh was convicted of embezzling USD4.9 million and causing losses to the State of VND34 billion (USD1.74 million) by the Hanoi People\'s Court. In this case, two deputy ministers of the MARD were prosecuted for allegedly signing letters of guarantee allowing Oanh to borrow million of dollars from several banks without collateral and the MARD minister had to resign after that.
“Vinashin is a sort of 1000-size magnification of La Thi Kim Oanh case,” Thuyet commented.
He noted that besides Vinashin officials, responsibility of the government agencies has not yet been clarified. “Government members who are involved in Vinashin’s fall must be criticised and punished. It is unacceptable for the government to review the responsibility of its members in a general way and then announce that internal review was carried out,” Thuyet emphasised.
Thuyet also called on the National Assembly\'s Judicial Committee to clarify who screened errors of Vinashin, why and for what.
“The NA will fail its duty assigned by the Party and people without clarification. I propose that the NA vote on the establishment of the provisional committee specialising in inspecting the responsibility of government members in the Vinashin case. Based on this, a meeting to vote on NA members’ trust in the prime minister and some related members should be held,” Thuyet highlighted.
For the inspection to be carried out, Thuyet proposed temporary suspension of people who need to be investigated from their posts
Deputy Le Van Cuong also agreed on the committee establishment, adding that violations of Vinashin have been early warned, but the government’s indulgence to the shipbuilder for a long time was faulty for the group’s nearly-bankrupt situation. As a result, each Vietnamese person would have to pay VND1.5 million (USD76.94) to cover Vinashin’s debts.
Offered with privileges, Vinashin has poured its huge money to massive but ineffective investments, including acquiring loss-making firms.
An apology to the people
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| Deputy Pham Thi Loan: ”The culture of resignation should be applied to keep the government’s prestige with people” |
“The failure of Vinashin is considered as a problem in the history of an economic group development. It not only brings about bad socio-economic impacts, but also reduces people’s trust in the government,” said Deputy Huynh Ngoc Dang from Binh Duong Province.
The government has not yet publicised its members for lax management on Vinashin issues, Dang said, asking the government for an appropriate feedback to voters nationwide. Deputy Pham Thi Loan from Hanoi said in a stern tone that, “Not only Vinashin officials have to be responsible for the group’s violations. Who allowed the shipbuilder to issue a big bond volume? Who allowed the firm’s massive investments? Why has the government asked the Government Inspectorate to examine the group first even though the National Assembly added Vinashin to the list of firms to be monitored?”
She recommended that officials who made mistakes related to the Vinashin case have to offer an apology to the people.
Deputy Le Thi Nga, from Thai Nguyen Province, proposed auditing all state-owned groups, particularly the Electricity Group of Vietnam (EVN), as well as the government’s annual reports on business and capital use situation of the groups.
At the discussion, Deputy Huynh Ngoc Dang mentioned electricity-related issues, saying that Vietnam has always faced power shortages over the past ten years, but the new aspect this year is that the rotational power cuts in the middle of rainy season.
Dang underlined that electricity is among the most pressing problems in the national infrastructure system.
“Electricity is not only important for production, investments and a factor for a civilised country, but also shows people’s contentment index with the government. Therefore, the power shortage is also dangerous as corruption and a risk of backwardness,” he underscored.
He proposed the National Assembly to request that EVN make public the power shortage situation.
Deputy Le Van Cuong also noted that the EVN has received many priorities for its operations, but none of its members admitted responsibility for frequent power cuts. “We strive to become an industrialised nation by 2020, but are always in need of power. Who will be responsible for this?”
>> Vinashin found to “ship” out false information
>> Prime Minister accepts some government responsibility in Vinashin’s fall
>> Vinashin gets new chief again
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