Nguyen Ba Thanh to leave for Hanoi for new job Nguyen Ba Thanh. Photo: Tuoi Tre Party Secretary of Da Nang City Nguyen Ba Thanh has just been appointed as chief of the Central Internal Affairs Commission. The Central Internal Affairs Commission advises the Politburo and the Central Steering Committee on Anti-corruption regarding the fight against corruption among Party members at the highest level, among other internal tasks. Mr. Thanh, aged 60, was born in Hoa Vang District, Da Nang City. He had been former Director of Quang Nam-Da Nang Agriculture Department, Chairman of Da Nang Municipal People’s Committee. A curious figure Thanh is credited with turning Da Nang from a poor locality in the central region into the most beautiful city in Vietnam which, for many, is the “best city to live” in the country. Its investment climate is excellent and has been praised by many foreign newspapers including the Financial Times which in 2011 wrote that Da Nang was the “best place to do business in Vietnam”. Loved by city residents, Thanh is famous for tough stance on corruption, especially among traffic police and is said to always deliver what he promises. Famous sayings by Nguyen Ba Thanh “I say and I do” “The core issue is personal responsibility [not collective responsibility]. In other countries, if there are so many robberies like that, the police chief must resign” “If you are tired, please raise your hands to resign” “Officials these days must learn how to be ashamed” According to blog Thoc on VOV (Voice of Vietnam) newspaper, “A senior official being loved and trusted by the people these days is rare”. “Whenever I took a taxi or a motorbike taxi [in Da Nang], the drivers all said good things about Nguyen Ba Thanh….I have never met a Da Nang resident who talked negatively of him while in other localities, speaking ill of leaders is very common”. The blogger wrote that “a provincial leader who is my friend once praised that no one is as energetic as Thanh”. “Another friend from a ministry in Hanoi told me that there is no bribery there [Da Nang]”. Last year, Thanh held a direct talk with 4,500 city officials to discuss the most heated questions. There, he evenly debated openly about weaknesses and strengths of each candidate [the city at the time was looking for suitable officials to fill in several important positions including the post of chairperson of the city People’s Committee]. Da Nang is thus probably the only city in the country to have openly debated such issues. Recently, Thanh directly pointed fingers at the city government and police for letting many street crimes occur, saying it is "a shame of the government". He told officials to resign and not to blame it on the whole system. Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue was also named as the Head of Central Economic Commission. Mr. Hue, aged 55, was born in Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province. He had been General Auditor from July 2006 to 2011. The moves aim to concretize the Resolutions passed at the 5th and 6th Plenary sessions of the 11th Party Central Committee. TuoitreNews