The “Communist” nature of the Communist Party of Vietnam, according to observers, domestic public and international media, remains only in name. Although, the party always affirms that Marxism-Leninism is the “ideological foundation” and “Revolutionary doctrine.”
That is why, Tuoi Tre newspaper’s news on April 3 with the title “Nghe An will have a bronze statue of Lenin weighing 4.5 tons” caused a public stir on social networks.
The news said that the Nghe An provincial Party Committee will hold an inauguration ceremony for the Lenin statue in Vinh city, in mid-April 2024. The Lenin statue weighs 4.5 tons, is made of pure bronze, and is praised by Nghe An leaders that it will create a beautiful space and highlight the urban appearance of Vinh city center.
According to observers, this information is not new, because this project was announced by the Nghe An provincial government in early 2020 but was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This project has been heavily criticized by many social network users. Because Russia itself and many former Socialist countries have destroyed and removed most of the Lenin statues, so why do the leaders of Nghe An province want to erect a statue of this “reactionary”?
Journalist Nguyen Quoc Binh wrote on his personal Facebook page:
“There is many ways to make money, why do officials still like to make stupid things like welcome gates and monuments like that?
And this monument has been thrown in the trash all over the world, so why are they still trying to build it, so that people will curse it to the point of deaf ears? A province with the most Central Committee members and the poorest, but not a single person opened their mouth to stop it.”
Facebooker Thai Bao wrote: “They just need to have a monument, they don’t need any pictures or anyone else’s! Just showing it off to have something to grab. Do they worship Lenin and that guy because they bless them for corruption?”
The “wave” of building monuments and welcoming gates by local leaders in Vietnam was thought to have ended, due to criticism from state media as well as the public. Yet it still exists today.
Although building the monument purely serves the propaganda work of the Communist Party of Vietnam, local officials also get a fair amount of kickback. And it is the motivation for the officials to think of all kinds of ways and ways to enjoy a percentage of “commission” from the project.
The public believes that, while most people still have to worry about food and clothing, young children still lack school fees, and the elderly lack money for medicine, building a monument is a useless, wasteful, and unnecessary job.
So why don’t localities spend those budget resources to take care of more practical things for the people, such as investing in infrastructure, investing in hospitals, schools, or poverty reduction programs?
Building a monument is just a trick of local leaders to get “commissions” and bribes of up to 30 – 40% of the value of the project. With a trillion-dollar project, this commission is extremely large. Therefore, it has a tremendous appeal. That is why the provinces that always have to “ask for rice to relieve hunger” for their people are the “leading” localities, the most enthusiastic in building monuments, and Nghe An is an example.
According to experts, monument construction is most susceptible to corruption, because the risks caused by poor quality construction are lower than other construction projects. Therefore, the kickback rate may not be 30-40%, but can be up to 60-70% of the total investment, with the monument project.
According to experts, the massive construction of monuments in Vietnam in recent years is completely unrelated to the cultural, aesthetic, or relaxation space needs of the people. Which is mainly due to economic affairs of officials! Local leaders want to bring budget capital back to their localities, and through the project of monuments, welcome gates… to scrape and take money for themselves.
When building a monument became a local political task, certainly no one dared to stop it. At the same time, the project will be easily approved, with the approved budget being quite open. Not to mention, adjusting and modifying the design during the construction process and arising estimates are also easily approved. This is a condition for local officials to freely make money.
One alarming thing is that, after inauguration, the quality of monuments deteriorates very quickly. Due to careless construction, skimping on the quantity and quality of raw materials after only a short time, the monuments quickly became abandoned and ruined.
Don’t forget, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once asserted: “Capitalism may not divide wealth equally, but Socialism divides poverty very evenly.”/.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
