Party expels nearly 51,000 members over seven years

Hanoi (VNA) – The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has expelled 50,938 members during the 2011-2017 period, of whom 38,519 were removed from the Party rolls for wrongdoings and 12,499 were expelled from the Party as punishment.

The figures were revealed at a meeting of the CPV Central Committee’s Secretariat on December 18 to discuss the issuance of a directive on enhancing the quality of Party membership and removing unqualified members from the Party.

As of December 31, 2017, the Party had more than 4.92 million members in 270,046 Party cells. In the 2011-2017 period, the Party admitted over 1.46 million members, or an average 209,572 members each year.

The quality of Party members has been increased with higher ratios of young people, women, people from ethnic minority groups, religious followers, and people with extended educations.

However, the number of expelled members is on the rise from 6,005 in 2011 to 9,822 in 2017. Meanwhile, Party development in many localities and social groups has faced several difficulties.

Addressing the meeting, CPV General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong emphasised that member quality is a key factor deciding the strength of the Party.

He stressed the need to improve the quality of admitting new members as well as reviewing and purifying Party membership, while resolutely expelling members who are not up to standards as well as those who have joined the Party without proper procedure or cause.

“The degradation of political ideology is even more dangerous than corruption,” stated General Secretary Trong, underlining the necessity to strengthen political and ideological education, as well as self-improvement of morality and lifestyle among Party members. –VNA