Hanoi City Party Secretary Hoang Trung Hai bitterly received discipline from the Politburo, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Secretary Hoang Trung Hai made many mistakes when he was a deputy prime minister, costing trillions of dollars for backward Chinese equipment projects.
Hanoi City Party Secretary Hoang Trung Hai was disciplined by the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) because of ‘serious violations’ when he was a deputy prime minister. Specifically, according to the Politburo, the highest authority in the system in Vietnam:
“During the time of being a deputy prime minister, Mr. Hoang Trung Hai had serious violations and shortcomings in the process of directing the implementation of the Project on production expansion phase II – Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company (Project TISCO II).”
News of the Voice of Vietnam Radio (VOV) on January 10, 2020 did not call Mr. Hai, who is still a Politburo Member, as “comrade” as usual.
The form of disciplinary action against Mr. Hoang Trung Hai is a “warning.” This report stated that “the above-mentioned violations and defects of Mr. Hoang Trung Hai are serious and annoying in society.”
The Politburo meeting took place on January 10 at the headquarters of the party’s Central Committee: “General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong chaired the Politburo meeting to consider and implement the discipline of Mr. Hoang Trung Hai, Politburo member Politburo, secretary of the Hanoi City Party Committee and former deputy prime minister.” This means that Mr. Hoang Trung Hai’s political career has ended.
The violations of Mr. Hoang Trung Hai were first mentioned on December 9, 2019. At that time, the Party’s Central Discipline Committee said Mr. Hai, during his time as a deputy prime minister, had violated and shortcomings when giving some directing opinions to TISCO II project.
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai received the decision to be the secretary of Hanoi Party Committee on May 5, 2016
Born in 1959 in Thai Binh, Mr. Hoang Trung Hai was a deputy prime minister from 2007 to 2016, under the term of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (July 2006 – April 2016). After that, he took the position of the secretary of Hanoi Party Committee.
During his time as the secretary of Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital has many development and expansion projects. However, traffic congestion, lack of clean water, garbage and air pollution have caused great concern for residents and visitors.
One of his most recent statements published by the Vietnamese newspaper at the end of 2019 is “Do not let guests criticize Hanoi too dirty!” Also during his time as a party secretary, in Hanoi, Dong Tam villagers took hostage of 38 police officers in a week in April 2017 in the case related to land seizure.
The Dong Tam incident is a very current affairs issue. The case seemed to have been settled by Hanoi’s Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung who came to negotiate with the local people and made a pledge not to prosecute them. However, the case continued to be a hot spot in the early days of 2020.
On 9/1, Hanoi brought the police force to Dong Tam to attack local people in their house in the early hours, killing people and arresting more than 30 local residents.
However, it is unclear to what extent Mr. Hai’s role in this case is because a part of public opinion still believes that Dong Tam is more related to Nguyen Duc Chung’s role than Mr. Hai.
The Central Inspection Commission said that the violation of Hanoi Secretary-General Hoang Trung Hai and some individuals involved in Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Project was so serious that it had to be disciplined.
Concluding remarks that Mr. Hoang Trung Hai, Politburo member and the secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, during his time as a deputy prime minister, had committed violations and shortcomings when giving some guidance for TISCO II Project.
With previous cases such as former ministers Nguyen Bac Son and Truong Minh Tuan, this committee only proposed such discipline but they received very heavy disciplines later. What about Mr. Hai?
However, journalist Vo Van Tao, who expressed that if Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong wants his “burning” job to be popular, he should take Mr. Hoang Trung Hai to take his responsibility for the faults he committed. He did not hide his surprise:
“The warning discipline that was imposed on Mr. Hoang Trung Hai surprised me, because for a long time the public opinion of party members as well as the people in the country were not satisfied with the previous treatment of corrupted officials. Recently, there have been changes, such as the case of Mr. Dinh La Thang, Politburo member and the secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, criminal prosecution and sentencing were fairly heavy.”
According to Mr. Tao, “the public opinion is excited that this burning process is giving the Vietnamese political atmosphere a new spirit, but the fact that Mr. Hoang Trung Hai was only warned. Burning furnace seems not fair and equal for all people.”
Pham Thanh, a dissident, said “I am not surprised that Hoang Trung Hai was only warned. According to the Labor Law, warning is the lightest and the lowest of 7 forms of warning.”
Journalist Pham Thanh still held the view that there was a Chinese element in the Hoang Trung Hai discipline. “I said again I’m not surprised because the reason to handle Hoang Trung Hai is to have the opinion of Beijing. Hoang Trung Hai committed many crimes and the public knew that and there was a lot of pressure on the Politburo headed by Nguyen Phu Trong.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong released the news at first that it was necessary to consider the discipline to please the people and those who denounced Hoang Trung Hai. Hoang Trung Hai’s crimes were not only Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel, but also the entire Chinese thermal power system brought to Vietnam when Hoang Trung Hai was still a deputy PM. Get rid of those wastes, China should have to pay the money but Hoang Trung Hai organized to buy so and pay for China.”
The warning discipline is not clear whether it is heavy or light. Blogger Bui Thanh Hieu from Berlin, Germany said “I don’t know if there are any additional sanctions attached just a warning. There are cases where the warning is completed, it is possible that they downgrade their position, take them out of the Politburo or the Party Central Committee or stop at the warning level. This is not surprising for me, and I once considered that the warning was just enough for the road to continue to not be too heavy for Mr. Hoang Trung Hai.”
An independent researcher who is in Singapore, Dr. Ha Hoang Hop, previously expected the disciplinary review of former Deputy Prime Minister and Politburo member Hoang Trung Hai to be only warned or reprimanded. Warning discipline is not accompanied by anything else.
“The rules of the Communist Party of Vietnam have some discipline. So a warning is a warning, not a declaration. Without expelling him, he still had his position there. After this warning, people told him where to go and what to do … to be able to know later. ”
The Vietnamese political scene is full of unforeseen surprises. As Mr. Dinh La Thang has been transferred to the position of Saigon City Party Secretary, thought he would continue his promotion, but was eventually sent to prison.
These surprises are now spreading throughout the political system of the Communist Party of Vietnam – it’s a proof that Socialist’s irreparable deficiencies are deeply rooted in Party agencies. and the State, now is the time to reveal the consequences.
Since 1945, when the Communist Party robbed the government, 75 years have passed, it is more than enough to test a foreign Communist ideology which itself has collapsed in its own land, the Soviet Union and the whole of Eastern Europe.
Today, in Vietnam, the remnants of Communism are being unilaterally eliminated by millions of people.
Trung Hiếu from Hochiminh city – Thoibao.de (translated)
