Health minister, Hanoi chairman must be disciplined: Politburo

The Politburo, Vietnam Communist Party’s decision-making body, on Saturday proposed the Party Central Committee take disciplinary action against Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and Hanoi Chairman Chu Ngoc Anh.

The decision was issued at a meeting of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Central Committee, chaired by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The Secretariat also decided to expel Pham Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, from the Party.

Nguyen Thanh Long, a Party Central Committee member and Minister of Health; Chu Ngoc Anh, a Party Central Committee member, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, and former Minister of Science and Technology; and Pham Cong Tac, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology “have displayed deterioration in their political ideology, ethics and lifestyles, violating the Party’s regulations and State laws”.

The trio were found to have violated regulations on Party member conduct, “causing very serious consequences, damage to the state budget; affecting the country’s anti-pandemic efforts; causing anger in society; and affecting the reputation of Party organizations of the ministries to the point of having to face disciplinary action”.

Last month, the Central Inspection Committee proposed the Politburo discipline Nguyen Thanh Long and Chu Ngoc Anh.

The committee concluded that the health ministry leaders in the 2016-2021 term lacked responsibility, showed loose leadership, and lacked direction, management and inspection, giving rise to some ministerial officials violating the Party’s regulations and State laws in appraising, inspecting, supervising, licensing, negotiating prices and procurement of Covid-19 test kits for Viet A Company.

The technology ministry leaders in the 2016-2021 term were found to have lacked responsibility, showed loose leadership, and lacked direction, management, and inspection, giving rise to some ministerial officials violating the Party’s regulations and State laws in approving and signing contracts, managing, inspecting, supervising and funding a project that studies and manufactures Covid-19 test kits for Military Medical Academy.

Phan Quoc Viet, CEO of Viet A Company, was arrested in December 2021. He then admitted he had inflated the price of a Covid-19 test kit by 45% and given huge bribes to corporate partners and leaders of provincial and city centers for disease control across the country, asking them to distribute and use Covid-19 test kits provided by his company.