Hanoi (VNA) – Building a nation that develops rapidly and sustainably requires a clean, transparent and modern national governance system. Given this, work on internal affairs and the prevention and combat of corruption, wastefulness and other negative phenomena is no longer aimed solely at detecting and handling violations.
It must also help remove institutional bottlenecks, unlock development resources, improve institutions, strengthen the control of power, and foster a transparent and efficient environment conducive to national development.
The year 2026 has continued to mark an important shift in the Party’s leadership and governance thinking, including its approach to these affairs. In response to the country’s development requirements in the new era, the campaign against the “internal enemies” remains resolute, with no forbidden zones and no exceptions. However, its objective has evolved beyond addressing misconduct to building a national governance system founded on integrity, transparency and modernity. At the same time, it seeks to unleash constrained resources, remove institutional barriers, and protect those who dare to think big, act bold, carry out innovation, and work for the common good.
This new approach has been translated into a series of concrete policies and decisions. During the first six months of 2026, the Party Central Committee and its Politburo and Secretariat issued more than 30 resolutions, directives, regulations and conclusions on Party and political system building, socio-economic development, and the prevention and combat of corruption, wastefulness and negative practices.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly (NA) and the Government accelerated the review, amendment, supplementation and promulgation of nearly 300 legal normative documents to promptly institutionalise the Party’s new policies, address legal loopholes and shortcomings, unclog institutional bottlenecks, enhance decentralisation and delegation of authority in tandem with stronger power control, and prevent corruption, wastefulness and other negative practices.
These figures reflect notable new developments. Most importantly, the focus of the fight has shifted towards improving institutions, strengthening power control, and preventing violations at an early stage and from afar. As Party General Secretary and State President To Lam stressed, the country must make a fundamental shift from dealing with consequences to preventing violations from the root, at an early stage and from afar; from handling individual cases to consolidating institutions; from reviewing and compiling statistics to resolving outstanding issues once and for all; and from recovering assets at the final stage to supervising them through data.
This also explains why internal affairs are now increasingly intertwined with legal reform, digital transformation and efforts to enhance national governance capacity. That role is particularly evident in the handling of long-delayed and stalled projects. During the first six months of this year, the Government, ministries, sectors and localities reviewed and updated an additional 1,501 projects, bringing the total number of pending projects nationwide to 4,492, of which 1,531 have already been resolved.
At the same time, authorities identified 30,595 surplus public offices and land facilities following the restructuring of the organisational apparatus, with 14,992 of them having been brought back into operation and use.
Whereas anti-corruption efforts in the past mainly focused on preventing financial losses to the State, combating wastefulness, addressing stalled projects and putting idle public assets back into productive use have now become urgent development priorities. Significant resources for national development must not remain "frozen" because of institutional barriers, administrative delays or misallocation for any reason.
Therefore, the Party’s requirement to complete the resolution of all projects on hold, surplus public offices and land facilities resulting from organisational restructuring within 2026, and clearly assign accountability to those responsible for removing obstacles is intended to return valuable resources to the economy, unlock new drivers of growth and improve the effectiveness of national governance in the new development phase.
Strictly handling violations remains a prerequisite for upholding discipline, strengthening public trust and laying a solid foundation for sustainable development. Since the beginning of the year, Party committees at all levels and their inspection commissions have disciplined 65 Party organisations and 3,375 Party members. Through inspections and audits, authorities recommended the recovery of 799.4 billion VND (30.4 million USD) and 31 hectares of land, proposed administrative sanctions against 356 organisations and 1,192 individuals, and transferred 13 cases showing signs of criminal offences to investigation agencies. Judicial authorities initiated legal proceedings in 1,985 new cases involving 4,671 defendants, prosecuted 1,886 cases with 4,520 defendants, and concluded first-instance trials in 1,721 cases involving 4,415 defendants related to corruption, economic and official-duty crimes.
At the same time, the focus of internal affairs work is steadily shifting from dealing with consequences to preventing violations at their source. Prevention is no longer confined to communication campaigns, education or improving internal regulations. Instead, it is increasingly built upon stronger power control, digital transformation and data-driven governance. The implementation of the Politburo’s five regulations on power control and the prevention of corruption, wastefulness and other negative practices, particularly in personnel work, is being supervised from the grassroots level. National databases are being connected and integrated to support more effective oversight. Administrative reform and digital transformation are also being accelerated to reduce time and costs, minimise direct contact between officials and citizens, and curb bureaucratic harassment and unnecessary inconvenience for both people and businesses.
At the 30th meeting of the Central Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Corruption, Wastefulness and Negative Phenomena, General Secretary and President Lam reaffirmed that the fight must serve socio-economic development, and such efforts must not discourage officials from taking action or lead them to shift responsibility, avoid duties or fear accountability.
This reflects an approach that places internal affairs in an organic relationship with development—one that upholds discipline while protecting officials who dare to think big, act bold, conduct reforms, and act for the common good. It also explains why the Steering Committee has called for a comprehensive review of the legal system to fully identify institutional bottlenecks and legal loopholes that give rise to corruption, wastefulness and other negative practices, with priority given to revising key laws, including the Land Law and those governing construction.
A modern governance system must not only punish those who commit violations but also close the loopholes that allow such violations to occur. It must not only recover assets after losses but also safeguard national resources from being wasted in the first place. It must not only deal firmly with wrongdoings but also protect those who do the right thing, encourage innovation and foster a willingness to take responsibility for the common good. These are also the requirements of the country's new stage of development and a measure of the Party's leadership capacity, strategic vision and political resolve./.
