Reports and analytical data from international observers on the state of governance within Vietnam’s state apparatus point to a systemic paradox between its stated function of serving the people and its conduct in practice.
Accordingly, from the management of labor export programs to issues of food safety and hygiene, violations exposed in recent times have generated a powerful wave of public anger.
The peak of this breakdown in trust can be seen in major corruption cases involving the so-called “rescue flights” that were previously exploited for personal gain, as well as the recent case in which the electricity sector reported losses of VND 45 trillion and is now proposing electricity price increases to cut those losses.
These developments have raised serious questions about the effectiveness of mechanisms for supervising power, as well as transparency in the operation of essential public services that directly affect citizens.
What is noteworthy is not only the scale of these scandals, but also the way the system handles information and makes governance decisions, often revealing contradictions between policy and the realities of everyday life.
These events show that an operating mechanism still heavily marked by monopoly, lacking proper oversight and adjustment, has allowed the public administration sector to be easily abused, turning public interests into privileges for “interest groups.”
Although the state authorities have consistently justified these violations as isolated, “localized” incidents involving only a segment of officials, and have claimed that they are being resolutely purged, the problem lies elsewhere.
When agencies entrusted with the responsibility of serving the people are repeatedly implicated in bribery and profiteering, all social risks are ultimately shifted onto ordinary citizens, who are forced to bear the burden.
The question, therefore, is not only how to eliminate acts of harassment and corruption, but how Vietnam’s leadership will establish mechanisms for controlling power so that public agencies truly operate as instruments serving the people.
Hong Linh – Thoibao.de
