Wednesday, May 17 2000
ANALYSIS By Dean Yates
HANOI, May 17 (Reuters) - A major anti-graft campaign in Vietnam has borne little fruit at the halfway mark, and is unlikely to have much lasting impact in a country where the ruling Communist Party is accountable only to itself.
Analysts said that midway through the two-year effort, corrupt officials remained a dark stain on Vietnam's economic prospects and a possible trigger for social unrest.
Despite being regularly tagged one of Asia's most corrupt nations, no senior government official or party cadre has been publicly accused of graft, charged or stripped of Communist Party membership under the campaign, diplomats said.
Several senior officials have been sacked from their posts or rebuked for ``mismanagement,'' although one quickly bounced back. Former deputy prime minister Ngo Xuan Loc, dismissed late last year, now advises the premier on key state projects.
One political analyst said key obstacles to stamping out graft were party control over the press and the judiciary, along with the importance placed on collegial personal ties among top leaders that hindered anyone going for the jugular.
``I would not simply dismiss the campaign because at least it shows many leaders are concerned about the problems posed by graft and that they understand it's implications for good governance,'' the Hanoi-based analyst said.
``At the same time, the approach has been to exhort (for less corruption) and give out mild rebukes. That begs the question of how effective it really can be where the only rule is that of the party.''
GOVERNMENT SAYS SERIOUS ABOUT CAMPAIGN
Asked by Reuters if the lack of prosecution against senior officials for graft meant the party was not serious about the campaign, which was launched with much fanfare on May 19, 1999, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said:
``In the past year the campaign of building and improving the party has been carried out seriously and deeply in a spirit of transparency and democracy from central to local levels.''
Transparency has actually been lacking on most fronts of the graft struggle, diplomats said.
Two government sources said the party was looking into overseas bank accounts held by some senior officials.
A few high-ranking officials had also withdrawn their children from overseas schools on fears they might have to show how they could afford the fees, the sources said.
But none of this has been made public and Vietnam's media has ignored rumours about corruption among senior officials.
In addition, the party has refused to say if the several top officials who were sacked or admonished in recent months, including former deputy premier Loc, were involved in graft.
Hanoi has also given no indication on what resulted from a 1998 decree that required government officials to declare their personal assets.
EVEN BRIBES DON'T WORK
For foreign and local businessmen, graft is an old enemy, and a major reason not to invest in Vietnam.
Many businessmen complain that even paying kickbacks does not guarantee a faster licence here, or less red tape there.
A survey of expatriate businessmen working in 12 Asian countries published in March by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy found Vietnam the third most corrupt after Indonesia and India.
It said survey responses indicated graft was growing worse in Vietnam.
That was too much for one leading state-run newspaper, which decided to publish the story and the table ranking the countries, but only after deleting all reference to Vietnam.
While there has not been a repeat of violent rural protests over abuse of power and graft that rocked several provinces in 1997, analysts said the issue was still a concern, especially considering Vietnam's mediocre economic prospects.
``Graft tied to economic performance could be a combustible mix in Vietnam,'' said the Hanoi-based political analyst.