General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that the work of Party building and rectification, and the prevention and fight against corruption and negativity will be promoted. (Photo: Tuan Anh)

On the morning of August 3, in Hanoi, after being elected by the Central Committee to hold the highest position of the Party, General Secretary and President To Lam chaired a press conference to inform and answer questions from domestic and international press.

Answering a reporter's question about his feelings when being elected General Secretary of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam with an absolute vote of 100%, General Secretary and President To Lam said: Having been trusted by the Central Committee to hold the position of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, I realize that I am shouldering a great responsibility before the Party, before the people, before the achievements that our Party has achieved over the past 94 years as well as expecting strong development of the country in the coming time.

We have completed 2/3 of the way to implement the Resolution of the 13th National Congress, in the context of the world and regional situation changing rapidly, complicatedly, with many difficulties and challenges. There are still many tasks, very complicated, requiring outstanding efforts, solidarity, unity and joint efforts of the entire Party, people and army to successfully achieve the set targets.

There is nothing like solidarity and unity because that is our strength. I am very happy that the solidarity and unity within the Party, the Politburo, and the Central Executive Committee have been spread and continued to be promoted. This is the strength that helps the country overcome many difficulties and challenges, achieve the victories and goals set by our Party. Certainly, the future of our country's development will be bright following the path our Party has outlined.

Answering the question about the work of Party building, rectification, and the fight against corruption, which has always been given special attention by our Party and State; under the resolute direction of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, many important results have been achieved, and cadres, Party members and people of all walks of life have trusted, agreed and supported. As the head of the Party, how will the General Secretary continue to inherit and implement this work in the coming time, General Secretary and President To Lam: I understand that public opinion is very much looking forward to it after the fight against corruption of the Party and agencies, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, has achieved many important results.

In the coming time, the work of Party building and rectification, and the prevention and fight against corruption and negativity will continue to be vigorously implemented with the same goals, viewpoints, mottos, tasks, and solutions as in the past. In particular, the prevention and fight against corruption and negativity will be promoted according to the motto of being continuous, without rest, without forbidden areas, without exceptions, regardless of who the person is, handling one case will alert the whole region and the whole field.

Agencies will focus on preventing and combating corruption and negativity, first of all from agencies with the function of preventing and combating corruption and negativity; repelling "petty corruption" with many specific solutions; expanding the prevention and combating of corruption and negativity outside the state sector, contributing to cleaning up the Party organization and the state apparatus. Measures to control power, rectify public ethics, and style and manners of serving the people will be strengthened.

Along with anti-corruption work, we continue to reform the system, remove difficulties in institutions and regulations, and create new momentum and space for socio-economic development.

Personally, I was very fortunate that while serving as Minister of Public Security, I also took on the role of Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and Negative Action, directly participating in leading and directing the work of preventing and combating corruption and negative actions, closely following the direction of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for many years. Therefore, I have gained certain experience.

Now that I have the trust of the Party and the people, I have been elected as General Secretary, and at the same time assigned the important responsibility of Head of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption and Negative Practices. I believe that this work will continue to be implemented with unchanged direction, intensity, frequency, and rhythm, and we will definitely defeat the "internal invaders".