HANOI, Nov 11, 1999 (Reuters) - Vietnam's ruling Communist Party on Thursday announced its toughest public rebuke to top cadres in years, including the proposed sacking of a deputy prime minister.
It said three senior party members had fallen foul of a major campaign to clean up the party's image and boost public confidence in the state apparatus.
Vietnam Television (VTV) said a plenum of the party central committee that ended on Thursday had decided to ask the National Assembly to sack Deputy Prime Minister Ngo Xuan Loc for mismanagement.
It was unclear if the request would be dealt with by the National Assembly at its next session starting on November 18.
The other two party members, former central bank governor Cao Sy Kiem and former customs chief Phan Van Dinh, were also accused of mismanagement during their tenures.
It was not known if any of the three would face criminal proceedings, although party officials on Thursday left open that possibility specifically for Loc and Dinh.
While officials did not implicate the three in any specific scandals, the move comes at a time when confidence in the party and state bureaucracy has hit rock bottom because of the regularity of official involvement in corruption.
VTV said Loc, one of Vietnam's five deputy prime ministers, and Kiem were also formally warned by the party, a serious disciplinary measure within the ruling body.
TOP CADRES MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE
Dao Duy Quat, deputy head of the party's Ideological and Cultural Commission, earlier said Loc was singled out because of unidentified problems with the Thanh Long water park project in Hanoi, which has allegedly been plagued by irregularities.
Construction and industry falls under Loc's responsibilities as deputy prime minister.
Loc also had to be accountable for problems within the cement industry when he was construction minister in the mid-90s, said Quat, briefing correspondents about the week-long plenum at a news conference before the VTV bulletin.
Kiem, who is currently deputy head of the party's economic commission, had to take responsibility for losses suffered by the banking industry when he was central bank governor in the mid-90s, Quat said. At that time many banks had an explosion of bad debt because of lax lending.
Neither man had carried out their duty properly, he said.
``The central committee has considered disciplinary measures for the two -- Ngo Xuan Loc and Cao Sy Kiem -- over their responsibility in carrying out state activities,'' Quat said.
He said the elite politburo would also discipline former customs director Dinh, who was replaced last month without explanation, over unidentified problems during his tenure.
Dinh's department has been heavily criticised because of numerous smuggling cases involving senior customs officials. Foreign investors also list graft at customs points as one of the top headaches in doing business in Vietnam.