The Communist Party of Vietnam, in power since 1976, expelled the Minister of Health and the mayor of Hanoi, on suspicion of Corruption related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision was made Monday at an extraordinary meeting of the party’s central committee, which demanded the opening of an investigation against the two suspects, Minister Nguyen Thanh Long and Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh, according to a released statement. online for the organ.
The Communist Party of Vietnam accused the two politicians of having “caused loss of money and state property, hampered the fight against Covid-19, caused social unrest and affected the Party’s reputation.”
Official media reported that the minister and the mayor are involved in a Bribery scandal in the sale to hospitals of tests to detect the Covid-19 virusat a cost of 172 million dollars (161 million euros), of which about 35 million dollars (32.8 million euros) were in bribes.
In recent months, Vietnamese authorities have arrested several employees of provincial disease control centers over this scandal and as part of a government anti-corruption campaign.
The expulsion from the partisan ranks of the minister and the mayor allows them to be formally accused of corruption and subject to criminal proceedings, the Radio Free Asia channel reported.
Source: Observadora
