on previous occasions. (A special police force from neighbouring Tien Giang provinces was brought in to arrest Nam Cam, because the Ho Chi Minh City police had been so corrupted by his network.) Tran Mai Hanh, a former central committee member and director of state radio, was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Pham Sy Chien, a former deputy state prosecutor, received a sixyear sentence; and Bui Quoc Huy, a former deputy minister for public security and central committee member, was sentenced to four years. The outcome of the trial was hardly surprising. Vietnamese lawyers commented that the trial was closely monitored and guidance provided to the court by the relevant party committee. The appeals of three senior officials found guilty of accepting bribes and failing to perform their duties were refused in October 2003. The outcome of the trial sent a warning to other senior officials that they were not beyond the reach of the law. In a widely reported speech to the national assembly in mid-2003, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the government would ‘severely punish every corrupt official, without exception’.2 This determination presents the leadership with a doubleedged dilemma: the more evidence the party produces that it is rooting out corruption from its own ranks, the more it undermines its legitimacy. Failing to act, however, would similarly reinforce the perception that corruption is rampant. The authorities are likely therefore to continue to make an example of prominent figures who are found guilty, promoting such cases as evidence that the party is making headway in the fight against corruption. To avoid any major damage to the party’s image, however, investigations will probably remain selective, rather than extensive. With tight state control over the media, there is little independent investigation into the wrongdoing of senior officials. Indeed, in spite of the high number of officials implicated in the Nam Cam scandal and the unusual degree of media coverage allowed, there are still doubts as to the thoroughness
of the investigation. Soon after the trial ended, Nguyen Khoa Diem, head of the party’s ideology and culture commission, announced that the media could no longer report freely on the scandal. He also stated that the media must not ‘reveal secrets, create internal division or obstruct the key role of propaganda’.3
Ministers are being held to account for wrongdoing The national assembly has been gradually shedding its reputation as a rubber stamp for the party by displaying a greater determination to hold senior officials accountable for their actions. In June 2004 deputies voted to oust minister of agriculture and rural development Le Huy Ngo for failing to prevent the corruption scandal surrounding the operations of a state-run investment and marketing company affiliated with the ministry. (The company’s former director, La Thi Kim Oanh, was sentenced to death in December 2003 for misappropriating US $4.7 million. Two former deputy ministers, Nguyen Thien Luan and Nguyen Quang Ha, were given suspended sentences of three years for their part in the scandal.4) Ngo offered to resign, but Prime Minister Phan Van Khai proposed that the minister be relieved of his responsibilities by the legislature. The tenure of post and telecommunications minister Do Trung Ta may also end prematurely after allegations of wrongdoing in the management of the state-owned c o n g l o m e r a t e , Vi e t n a m P o s t s a n d Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT). Following an investigation that started in late 2003, the state inspectorate accused VNPT officials in May 2004 of widespread violations in the methods used to award contracts over the previous five years. The inspectorate called for the dismissal of four senior executives: VNPT’s deputy general director; the head of its marketing and pricing department; and the director
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