Politburo requests disciplinary action against former HCMC party chief

Le Thanh Hai, former Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary, at an event in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, in April 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

During a meeting at the headquarters of the Party Central Committee on Tuesday, the Politburo also issued warnings to the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Standing Committee for the 2010-2015 term, and to Le Hoang Quan and Nguyen Thanh Phong, both former members of the Party Central Committee and former chairmen of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.

After reviewing the recommendations from the Central Inspection Commission, the Politburo and the Central Secretariat Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam found that the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Standing Committee for the 2010-2015 term had "violated democratic centralism principles, Party regulations, and working procedures."

They were found to be negligent in their leadership, directorship and supervisorship, according to the inspection.

This lead to numerous violations and shortcomings in the committee’s management of land, finances, assets, investment, planning, and construction.

This mismanagement persisted through multiple terms, according to the Politburo.

Hai, Quan, and Phong were identified as being the violators of "democratic centralism principles, Party regulations, and laws."

They also violated laws regulating what Party members are allowed and not allowed to do, and their responsibility to set examples.

They were negligent in their leadership, allowing multiple violations and shortcomings within the Party and the city government.

These violations and shortcomings caused "very serious consequences," according to the inspection. They posed a high risk of significant losses to state money, assets, and social resources.

The Politburo added that these risks sometimes even led to "serious criminal" activity.

Many Party organizations and members have been disciplined or criminally prosecuted, causing public discontent and reducing the credibility of the Party and the city government, inspectors found.

The Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Standing Committee for the 2010-2015 term, Hai, Quan, and Phong, were recommended for disciplinary action by the Central Inspection Commission on May 8.

Inspectors uncovered illicit activity by the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for the 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 terms in projects done by disgraced property developer Van Thinh Phat, and packages and projects by Advanced International Company (AIC).

Many Party organizations and members have already been disciplined or criminally prosecuted for these violations.

Hai, 74, hails from Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delata.

He was a Politburo member for the 10th and 11th terms and a Central Committee member for the 9th to 11th terms. His career is closely associated with Ho Chi Minh City, having held various leadership positions there, such as deputy chairman, chairman of the People’s Committee, and Party Secretary for two consecutive terms from 2005-2010 and 2010-2015.

In March 2020, he lost his position as the HCMC Party Secretary for the 2020-2025 term for making bad decisions in regard to the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project.

He was mainly responsible for violations committed by the city’s Party unit in leading and directing implementation of the project, inspectors said.

He signed documents that contravened the policy of the HCMC People’s Council and Vietnam’s Budget and Construction Laws.

The top leader of Van Thinh Phat, chairwoman Truong My Lan, has recently been sentenced to death for embezzling millions from Saigon Commercial Bank over a decade. She has appealed her death sentence.