When the election of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure is about to take place, the hostile forces are enhancing their sabotage strategy as usual. Hence, identifying and fighting against their wrong viewpoints on this matter will contribute to thwarting their strategy and ensuring the success of the election.

On foreign websites, newspapers, and magazines, the hostile and reactionary forces and political opportunists are devoting effort to sabotaging preparations for our election with cunning artifices. They distort information and make subjective, untrue judgements to steer public opinions and create a doubt about the election. They even speak ill of our Party, while distorting and sabotaging our election. Therefore, it is extremely necessary for us to remain vigilance, identify and resolutely combat the hostile forces’ schemes and artifices aimed at sabotaging our election, and clarify the matters of principle for the election-related work. To that end, emphasis should be placed on implementing several basic measures as follows.

1. Regarding the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam over the election-related work, the hostile forces believe that “the Communist Party is the only player in the election,” “under the leadership of the Communist Party, there will be no democratic election,” and “it is necessary to remove the leadership of the Communist Party over the election.” They claim that the Party’s leadership over the election goes against law. They demand that the Communist Party should neither exercise its leadership over the election nor take part in the election-related work. According to them, the Party should relinquish its leadership over the State and the society, while Vietnam should follow political pluralism.

That argument is completely wrong and contrary to our country’s practical conditions. It also expresses their misunderstanding of Vietnam’s law. It is both theoretically and practically proved that the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only leader of the State, society and people of Vietnam. It is the clever leadership of the Party that has enabled the Vietnamese revolution to gain numerous victories. Our Party has earned respect and admiration from many countries around the world. It should be noted that the Party’s leadership has been specified in our Constitution. According to the Article 4 of the Constitution of 2013, “the Communist Party of Vietnam - the Vanguard of the working class, concurrently the vanguard of the laboring people and Vietnamese nation, faithfully representing the interests of the working class, labouring people and entire nation, and acting upon the Marxist-Leninist doctrine and Ho Chi Minh Thought, is the force leading the State and society.” Hence, the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the election-related work is in accordance with law. Moreover, under the Party’s leadership, certainly our people will select deputies with sufficient qualities and capabilities to the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels as the representatives of the people’s aspirations and right to mastery. The Party’s leadership over the election-related work means its performance of function as the leader of the State and the society. Such leadership does not mean that the Party abuses power or intervenes in the election or makes excuses for the election as stated by the hostile forces. On June 20^th, 2020, the Politburo released the Directive 45-CT/TW on leadership over the election of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure. The Directive has analysed the impacts on the preparation and organisation of the election, anticipated difficulties and challenges, including the hostile forces’ sabotage scheme, and set out orientations to ensure that the election would be a festive day of all people and enable them to promote their right to mastery over the destiny of the nation. It could be said that the Party’s leadership over the election-related work is objective and extremely necessary to bring into play the strength of the great national unity block and the entire political system, surmount all difficulties and challenges, and maintain political directions for preparing and successfully organising the election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils. Doing so would also help build a socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, and for the people as the basis for the country’s sustainable development in the new period.

2. With reference to the quantity and structure of deputies, the hostile forces have made groundless judgements against the personnel work for the election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils. In some of their articles, they inconsiderately claim that the personnel work for the election had been arranged in advance, and that powers within the National Assembly had been compromised and divided up by the Party’s “factions.”  More seriously, they have unfounded comments that change the nature of the number of deputies to the National Assembly. They even believe that it is necessary to share half of the National Assembly seats with deputies who are not party members in order to achieve a balance of power within the National Assembly. This plot is aimed at falsifying the guidelines set by the Party and the National Assembly Standing Committee, creating a doubt amongst some gullible people, and sabotaging the personnel work for the election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils. Those above-mentioned arguments completely go against the Vietnamese people’s interests, while assisting the external force in sabotaging and hindering the election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils.

Opportunely identifying, unmasking and resolutely fighting against those wrong arguments represent a matter of importance and urgency. That will express the strictness of our law in accordance with the development of modern society. Any country or territory around the world adopt methods to combat the force that goes against national benefits. The 13^th National Party Congress has been determined to “ensure the national interests under the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, on the basis of equality and cooperation.” At the same time, it has placed emphasis on “fighting to foil all sabotage schemes of the hostile forces and political opportunists” and “cracking down on all plots to undermine the national great unity block or hinder the country’s development.” This is a matter of principle and will provide a solid foundation for us to actively identify and fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints as well as guarantee the success of the upcoming election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils.

On January 11^th, 2021, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued the Resolution 1185/NQ-UBTVQH14  according to which there would be about 25-50 deputies (5%-10%) as non-Party members. The method of organising the election, the structure of National Assembly deputies, and the number of deputies who are Party members or non-Party members planned and prepared by the National Assembly Standing Committee is completely scientific and in accordance with its function, task and authority. Doing so will contribute to raising the task performance of deputies when they are elected to the new National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils.

3. Concerning citizens’ right to self-nomination, some members of the hostile forces have nominated themselves, with a view to complicating and sabotaging our election. 5 year ago, when our country was preparing the election of deputies to the 14^th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure, a large number of “democrats” nominated themselves. After rounds of consultation, they were removed from the list of candidates. Nevertheless, they said that only people who supported the Communist Party were able to become candidates for the National Assembly, adding that the Party was preventing those where were not party members from self-nominating. They also demanded that candidates would not have to experience rounds of consultation. Such actions were aimed at disturbing and sabotaging our election. Via “self-nomination,” they hoped to draw public attention as the trigger for the external force to distort our election-related work. Under regulations on election, there is no “democrat” who is eligible for self-nomination as their job is only to distort information and truth, incite violence, slander the people’s authorities and the regime, and go against our Party’s guidelines on the Internet.

The right to stand for the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils is prescribed in Vietnam’s law. “Every 18-year-old or older citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is entitled to vote in the election and every 21-year-old or older citizen is entitled to stand for the election to the National Assembly and the People’s Councils.” Apparently, that right of citizens is specified and protected by our country’s law. Nobody could prevent citizens from exercising that right. Those who stand for the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils must be capable of representing the people’s aspirations and right to mastery; they must be absolutely loyal to the Homeland, the people, and the Constitution; they must have political zeal, good moral qualities, fitness, great prestige, considerable professional experience and  competence, industriousness, thrift, integrity, and uprightness, strictly observe Vietnam’s law, strive for the goal of wealthy people, strong nation, equality, and civilisation, resolutely fight against bureaucracy, corruption, wastefulness and violation of law, maintain a close connection with the people, respect and receive the people’s opinions, and opportunely, objectively reflect the people’s thoughts, aspirations, and proposals.

Noticeably, the Politburo’s Directive 45-CT/TW, dated June 20^th, 2020 stated that “we will not nominate candidates to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils who are not eligible or do not satisfy the criteria, especially those who show degradation in morality or commit corruption, bribery for job titles, and bureaucracy, or those who negatively impact on the prestige of our Party and State.” Therefore, in order to select candidates for the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils, it is necessary to grasp the Politburo’s Directive 45-CT/TW and stick to the regulations set by the Law on the election of deputies to the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils. Doing so will enable us to find representatives with typical qualities and capabilities for the supreme power agencies of the country and localities and make contributions to combating the hostile forces’ wrong viewpoints.

Lt. Col. NGUYEN THANH HAI, PhD, Political Academy, Ministry of National Defence