Vietnam's health minister, Hanoi mayor ousted from Party over COVID-19 test kit scandal
The expulsions were announced by the Party Central Committee at its extraordinary meeting on Monday after considering the nature and level of the violations committed by both officials in the scandal.
The committee also asked relevant agencies to impose further administrative punishments on the two following their Party expulsion, the heaviest Party’s disciplinary action, which was followed by demotion, warning, and reprimand.
These ejections followed a disciplinary request made by the all-powerful Politburo against Long and Anh on Saturday, when Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac was also expelled from the Party for his serious mistakes in the same scam.
Later on Monday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh dismissed Tac from his post for committing “very serious violations on duty.”
Tac, Anh, and Long have degraded the political ideology, morality and lifestyle, while violating the Party’s regulations and the state’s laws, all resulting in severe consequences and heavy losses to the state budget, the Politburo concluded.
Their wrongdoings, the Politburo said, affected COVID-19 prevention and control activities, causing discontent among the public and undermining the prestige of the Party as well as the health ministry and the science and technology ministry, where Anh was the minister in the 2016-20 period.
Following these developments, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee and the Hanoi People’s Council are expected to respectively remove Long from his parliament membership and Anh from his status as a member of the municipal People’s Council within Tuesday.
Earlier in late March, the Inspection Commission of the Party Central Committee concluded that the Party Committees and leaders of the two ministries in the 2016-21 term had shown a lack of responsibility and loose management, resulting in wrongdoings and violations in relation to the inflation of COVID-19 test kit prices by Ho Chi Minh City-based Viet A Technology Corporation, which was uncovered in December last year. Read More...
