HANOI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A senior member of Vietnam"s powerful Politburo has admitted there is evidence of corruption among relatives of Communist Party leaders, official media reported on Thursday.
The Saigon Giai phong (Saigon Liberation) daily quoted Pham The Duyet as saying "serious problems" were discovered, but even many members of the elite 19-member Politburo should be warned about involvement of family members in corruption.
"Not only they themselves, but their families -- wives and children -- have connections," Duyet was quoted as saying. "Some warnings must be made." Many Vietnamese have become resentful about the growing successful businesses conducted by their children and many top leaders of the ruling Communist Party and government.
Duyet said corruption had become more sophiscated.
"Links have been set up from central and local levels, between people inside and outside the country... Anti-corruption efforts must not exclude any one at any level."
Duyet"s remarks were the latest in a series of recent anti-corruption calls from Party leaders, but his was a rare focus on those close to members of the Politburo, the party"s inner sanctum. The calls come in the build up to the party"s Ninth Congress next March, which will set the country"s political and economic agenda for the next five years and see major personnel changes. Frustration over abuse of power by party members has been mounting in Vietnam, especially in the past decade, when fruits of free market reforms came up for grabs.