As part of the Government Inspectorate, Military Inspectorate performs its function as an office that gives advice to the Central Military Commission (CMC) and leaders of the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on state administration of inspection, complaint and denunciation settlement, citizen reception, and anti-corruption, which is an important aspect of military-defence work. Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “inspectors act as higher echelons’ eyes and ears and inferiors’ friends,” over the years, Military Inspectorate has always heightened revolutionary will, promoted collective knowledge, and achieved a lot of innovations in its activities. It has detected and opportunely handled violations of law by many organisations and individuals. It has made conclusions and recommendations for handling various complex complaints and denunciations, thereby greatly contributing to maintaining the Military’s discipline and the socialist rule-of-law State’s law. With reference to inspection, under the motto of “detection, prevention, and constructiveness,” since 2016, Military Inspectorate has carried out more than 2,420 inspections and verifications. In this regard, emphasis has been placed on the observance of laws and policies, the performance of military-defence task, the force building, combat readiness, and logistics, technical, and financial support. It should be noted that Military Inspectorate has conducted a lot of inspections of defence land management and use, capital construction, technical material management and use, materiel procurement projects, and defence work at ministries, sectors, and localities. Via such inspections, it has opportunely detected and handled offences, while completely settling shortcomings in the implementation of military-defence task and the building of defensive zones, thereby successfully fulfilling its assigned missions and boosting confidence amongst higher echelons, offices, units, and localities.

In addition, Military Inspectorate has paid due regard to directing offices and units to develop and synchronously, quickly realise their own inspection plans. Offices and units have been required to accelerate the progress rate of inspections, complete inspection-related reports, promulgate inspection-related conclusions in a correct, timely manner, receive and deal with citizens’ complaints and denunciations, prevent and combat smuggling, trade frauds, and counterfeit goods under statutory regulations, well carry out the work of legal propagation, dissemination, and education, and closely perform all tasks in order to prevent corruption. Via inspections, Military Inspectorate has opportunely detected offences and weaknesses committed by offices and units, identified causes and responsibility of each collective and individual, and advised the CMC and the MND to issue resolutions, circulars, and documents on directing units across the Military to improve the quality of force building, training, combat readiness, logistics-technical support, property and land management, discipline management, and the building of comprehensively strong offices and units, which has been highly appreciated by Government Inspectorate, ministries, sectors, localities, and units.

However, there have been weaknesses in Military Inspectorate’s activities, particularly in all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction.

Inspectorate of the MND paying a working visit to the Provincial Military Command of Hai Duong in July 2020 (photo: qdnd.vn)

In the upcoming time, the situation in the world and the region will continue to be complex and unpredictable. Domestically, COVID-19 pandemic will keep negatively impacting on our economy and social life. Hostile forces will step up their “peaceful evolution” strategy and promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Crime of all types and violations of law relating to national defence, national security, and economic field will be on the rise. Military-defence task and the Homeland protection will have new developments. Hence, offices, units, localities, and especially the Military Inspection Branch (MIB) should focus on well implementing several tasks and measures as follows.

First of all, seriously grasp and effectively execute resolutions and directives by the Party, the CMC, and the MND on inspection work to meet the requirements of national protection. In this regard, significance should be attached to grasping and implementing Prime Minister’s Decision 2213/QĐ-TTg, dated December 8th, 2015 issuing the Strategy to develop the Inspection Branch towards 2020, with a vision towards 2030. According to the Strategy, we will “further build and systematise the Inspection Branch with the focalised, uniformed management of its organisational structure, strengthen the role of inspection agencies in state administration of complaint and denunciation settlement and anti-corruption, and improve professionalism, responsibility, discipline, and integrity of staff members of the Inspection Branch.” Grounded on such a goal, it is essential to focus on realising three breakthroughs, namely (1) proactively advising Minister of National Defence on managing and directing inspection work under statutory regulations, (2) building a contingent of inspectors with pure morality and political zeal, and (3) enhancing the training and management of party members and building a really “exemplarily, exemplarily” strong MIB in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel. To that end, the MIB shall frequently adhere to the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, regulations by the CMC and the MND, and projects/plans to develop its work plans, renew its direction and management, and raise the quality of its operation.

Second, keep consolidating the MIB’s organisational structure in a compact, strong fashion and build a contingent of upright, “both red and expert” inspectors on a par with their task requirements. In the medium term, offices and units shall focus their leadership and direction on standardising the quality of military inspectors at all levels with political and professional zeal, broad experience, and great competence. Besides, it is vital to improve professional knowledge of inspectors and heads of inspection delegations. In the long term, it is necessary to undertake researches into amending regulations on recruiting, appointing, and managing inspectors to ensure their professionalism, discipline, and responsibility. Due attention should be paid to recommending Prime Minister to adjust regulations on criteria for military inspectors in accordance with other statutory regulations and the Military’s development. At the same time, there should be proper mechanisms and policies to attract human resources and build a pool of inspectors to satisfy the MIB’s task requirements in the new situation.

Third, further renew and improve inspections of the observance of the State’s laws and policies and the MND’s regulations on military-defence task. Based on regulations on process and procedures for conducting inspections under the Inspection Law of 2010 and Circular 06/2021/TT-TTCP, dated October 1st, 2021 by the Government Inspectorate stipulating the organisation and operation of an inspection delegation as well as the process and procedures for carrying out an inspection, members of an inspection delegation must follow decisions and directions of the head of their inspection delegation, while offices and units in charge of inspections and the head of an inspection delegation must observe decisions and directions by the person who issues inspection order. In the process, members and heads of inspection delegations, and heads of offices and units in charge of inspections shall ensure assertiveness, fairness, and objectivity, dare to reserve their opinions, and make no adjustment in inspection results. Moreover, the MIB shall continue inspecting all-level commanders’ responsibility to observe the State’s laws and policies and the MND’s regulations on inspection, citizen reception, complaint and denunciation settlement, and anti-corruption. Doing so will help make a huge change in offices and units’ operational management and all-level cadres’ role, responsibility, and morality as the basis for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of inspection work.

Fourth, better supervise inspection delegations’ operation and speed up post-inspection activities. Offices and units shall closely supervise inspection delegations’ operation and always consider this as an important “channel” for raising the quality and effectiveness of this important task. Supervisors must have good knowledge of inspected fields and inspection-related laws, good political qualities, pure morality, a sense of responsibility, integrity, and uprightness. Importance should be attached to heightening the roles of units in charge of inspections, persons who issue inspection orders, persons subject to inspections, and organisations and individuals involved in inspections in supervising inspectors. It is important to enhance cross-supervision amongst members of an inspection delegation via appraising and criticising each member’s contents of inspection to improve the quality and effectiveness of inspection. Moreover, heads of state management and inspection agencies should focus their direction on raising the quality of realising post-inspection conclusions, recommendations, and settlement. Conclusions and decisions must be public and transparent, while the implementation of inspection delegations’ conclusions, recommendations, and decisions must be disseminated.

Fifth, continue building, completing, and modernising facilities and technical equipment to meet the MIB’s task requirements. In this regard, it is necessary to build information technology infrastructure, acquire equipment for management work, and focus on adopting procedures for receiving administrative records, settling complaints and denunciations, giving feedback on the single-window system within the MND, and exploiting online public service. Besides, significance should be attached to soon building and integrating data for complaint and denunciation reception and settlement into the Government Inspectorate’s database system.

In addition to those above-mentioned measures, offices and units shall keep renewing and improving the work of legal propagation, dissemination, and education to raise organisations and individuals’ law-abiding awareness and responsibility. Great value should be attached to reviewing inspections, particularly the specialised, large-scale, and complex ones to draw and record lessons as manuals for future generations. Moreover, it is vital to opportunely reward collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements and strictly handle offences in order to maintain the Military’s discipline and the State’s law and raise the armed forces’ synergy and combat strength for the Homeland construction and protection.

Sr. Lt. Gen. VO MINH LUONG, Member of the Party Central Committee

Member of the CMC, Deputy Minister of National Defence