Strengthening the Party’s leadership in the fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena

Strengthening the Party’s absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of this work is not only aimed at purifying the apparatus and providing a foundation for ensuring political stability and promoting sustainable economic development, but also constitutes an urgent requirement in rebutting distorted allegations by hostile forces seeking to deny the leadership role of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

Looking back on the 40 years of implementing the renewal policy, it is evident that the entire Party and people have made relentless efforts in preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness and negative practices. This has involved not only progress in awareness and a clearer understanding of the nature, dangers and consequences of corruption, wastefulness and negative practices, as well as a more comprehensive perception of the significance and methods of this struggle, but, more importantly, strong political determination and resolute action in strictly handling acts of corruption, wastefulness and misconduct in recent years.

However, despite the Party’s efforts, hostile forces continue to spread distorted arguments aimed at denying the achievements made in combating corruption, wastefulness and negative practices. Their nature is not constructive; rather, they seek to negate every achievement and effort of the Party, with the ultimate goal of rejecting the Party’s leadership role and moving towards abolishing the socialist regime. Therefore, in the new context, strengthening the Party’s leadership over the fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative practices remains an objective necessity that must be addressed in practice.

First and foremost, strengthening the Party’s leadership in this work serves to affirm the revolutionary nature and integrity of the Party. At the same time, it is an inevitable objective requirement arising from the Party’s ruling position and role, helping to consolidate public trust and safeguard the survival of the regime.

Corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena are “malignant tumours” that weaken the apparatus, cause losses of resources and erode public confidence. These issues provide hostile and reactionary forces with opportunities to deliberately equate the misconduct of a section of officials with the nature of the entire system in an attempt to undermine the Party’s prestige. Such phenomena are manifestations of power corruption and the moral, ideological and political degradation of a number of leading and managerial officials, rather than a “systemic flaw”, “group interests”, or something stemming from the “nature” of the regime itself.

Resolution No.04-NQ/TW dated April 1 , 2026, adopted at the second plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee, affirmed that purifying the contingent of officials is aimed at strengthening combativeness and making the apparatus operate more effectively, thereby “building a clean and comprehensively strong Party and political system”.

Secondly, strengthening the Party’s leadership over the fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative practices also ensures unity and effectiveness in action. These are highly complex issues characterised by close and sophisticated interconnections. Only the Party’s centralised leadership can mobilise the combined strength of the entire political system, from executive and judicial bodies to public supervision.

Under the Party’s direct and comprehensive leadership, inspection, auditing and judicial agencies are connected into a synchronised system operating in harmony. It is precisely this unity that enables the country to handle complex, transnational and systemic cases without falling into situations of buck-passing or manipulation by vested-interest groups. When the Party exercises direct leadership, all policies and decisions are based on national interests, ensuring consistency from the central to local levels.

Thirdly, strengthening the Party’s leadership in this area is also a necessary condition for building and perfecting sustainable preventive institutions. This is the basis for refuting distorted allegations claiming that Viet Nam’s anti-corruption, anti-wastefulness and anti-negative phenomena efforts are merely “symbolic”, selective or sacrificial in nature rather than substantive; or that such efforts only address the symptoms rather than tackling the root causes comprehensively.

Fourthly, strengthening the Party’s leadership in this work is a prerequisite for maintaining political stability and promoting economic development in the new period. Reactionary and opportunistic forces often exploit negative incidents to incite public anxiety and discourage investors.

On the one hand, they constantly claim that corruption, wastefulness and negative practices in Viet Nam stem from the “system”, and therefore the national economy cannot develop. On the other hand, they distort the truth by arguing that anti-corruption efforts “make officials afraid of making mistakes and unwilling to act, thereby causing economic stagnation”, or that “the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s extensive anti-corruption campaign is paralysing many economic transactions and may affect foreign direct investment and reduce exports”.

Reality has proven that the Party clearly recognises the harmful consequences of corruption, wastefulness and negative practices. Therefore, from an early stage, the Party has continuously intensified efforts to combat them. The achievements made in economic growth, national development and the country’s enhanced international standing, together with the strict handling of numerous large-scale corruption, wastefulness and misconduct cases involving many senior officials, demonstrate that corruption, wastefulness and negative practices are not caused by a “systemic flaw”, but rather by the ideological, moral and lifestyle degradation of a section of leading and managerial officials. Timely handling of such cases has prevented them from “rotting” the economy, contrary to the claims propagated by hostile forces.

Moreover, the Party and State have continuously developed and improved guidelines, mechanisms and policies aimed at creating favourable conditions and encouraging individuals and organisations across society to proactively participate in promoting production, business activities and investment attraction. This contributes to the formation of a transparent, healthy and integrity-based investment environment in both the public and private sectors.

However, the Party has not focused solely on “fighting” but also placed emphasis on “building”, particularly through mechanisms to protect officials who dare to think, dare to act and dare to take responsibility. This serves as a source of support enabling officials to devote themselves confidently, boldly innovate, and transform science, technology and innovation into practical drivers of economic growth in the new era.

As the Party’s leadership role is further consolidated, the nation’s internal strength will be strongly unleashed, laying a firm foundation for realising the aspiration of national development in the spirit of the 14th National Party Congress, while also deepening and enhancing the effectiveness of the fight against corruption, wastefulness and negative practices.