Vietnam anti-graft decree targets govt officials
HANOI- Vietnam Prime Minister
Phan Van Khai has signed a decree ordering top
government employees to declare their personal assets in
an attempt to prevent graft, an official said on Friday.
``This decision is aimed at protecting against corruption.
Officials will declare their current assets but there will be
no question about how they got them,'' the official from
the Prime Minister's Office said by telephone.
``The information will be for future reference,'' he said.
This meant if an official's declared personal assets rose
markedly from one year to the next, there would be a
probe.
Local media said on Friday assets worth more than 50
million dong ($3,600) would be declared, but it was
unclear if this figure would be applied to individual items
or the total. The official said the exact wording in the
decree was not clear.
Current and future assets to be declared to the State
Inspectorate included houses, land and other personal
items.
The decree, which was signed on Monday and takes
effect on September 1, only applies to government
employees and not to senior officials of the ruling
Communist Party.
However, most top government officials are also
members of the Communist Party.
``In principle the government cannot issue rules for party
officials,'' said the official from the Prime Minister's
Office.
In March, Khai referred to ``epidemic'' corruption in
Vietnam, but insisted it stopped short of the top echelons
of power.
Nevertheless, graft has caused soul-searching among the
Communist Party's ruling elite, especially after rural
unrest last year that was partly triggered by local-level
corruption.
The economic costs of graft in Vietnam are difficult to
measure but they are mounting, businessmen say.
The official Vietnam News daily said the decree also
applied to executives in state-run firms and barred family
members from holding certain jobs at the offices or
enterprises of highly-placed relatives.
Also targeted would be top officials of people's
committees, or local government, across the country, the
daily said.
It said officials were prohibited from depositing money
abroad. If they had done so already, the funds must be
transferred back to Vietnam.
Complaints from the public about corrupt officials must
be handled within seven days, the decree added.
REUTERS - August 21, 1998.
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