The inception of a ruling party

On September 2^nd 1945, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was founded. It also marked a milestone ending the 15-year period of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in secret and enabling the CPV to enter a new political arena as a ruling political party.

The entire people and nation totally reliably granted power to the CPV and assigned it to develop the country under the goal of national independence and socialism. The CPV performed its noble mission for the sake of the nation’s revival and prosperity, not for itself. The power seized by the CPV was completely legitimate as it resulted from sacrifice of numerous communists and Vietnamese patriots, not from its claims. Over the past 75 years (1945-2020), our CPV has always renewed itself to fulfil the most fundamental tasks assigned by the people as follows.

First, the CPV successfully led the entire people to fight the enemies, liberate and protect the country. Under the CPV’s leadership, our country defeated the French Colonialists and the US Imperialists, fought to defend the national border, and helped the people of Cambodia to escape from genocidal regime, thereby firmly safeguarding the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity.

Second, our CPV has obtained remarkable historic achievements in leading the people to build a new society. Our country has overcome the socio-economic crisis, carried out the national reform for the sake of socialism, and implemented the open-door policy to proactively, actively integrate into the world and make really significant contributions to the development, peace, friendship, cooperation, and social progress across the globe. The tremendous achievements in the past 35 years of national renewal result from the CPV’s governing capacity and the national great unity strength. The people have pinned their faith in the CPV, believing that without the CPV’s sound leadership, there wouldn’t be such impressive achievements of today. That faith has been tested with numerous challenges and resistance from both inside and outside. That faith is golden.

A ruling Party renews itself - looking to the future

A ruling Party will be wiped out if it degenerates, follows negative practices, and becomes corrupted (as instructed by President Ho Chi Minh). Thus, to make the CPV a ruling Party, it is a must that the CPV is always pure, strong and improves its governing qualities and capacity to deserve to be the vanguard and loyal representative of the working class and the entire people and nation under the viewpoints by President and the CPV mentioned in its Charter. The CPV must be the conscience and pride of the whole nation and it must be an ethical and civilised Party. 

The development of the CPV is associated with its self-renewal, which has been proved in the past 35 years of national renewal. With a vision towards 2030 (the 100^th founding anniversary of the CPV) and towards 2045 (the 100^th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day), the CPV must further renew itself so as to maintain and enhance its leadership role. The CPV’s governance, which was made a reality and an inevitability from a possibility by the CPV, and a must for the CPV to renew itself and make it always pure and strong are all undeniable.

In tens of years to come, the international situation will be unpredictable with the trend of both cooperation and cooperation among major powers. The world will more deeply and quickly enter the era of globalisation with the rapid development of the knowledge-based economy and the digital economy in the 4^th industrial revolution. The opportunities and challenges for our country’s development will be intertwined with and transformed into one another. The country’s opportunity, status, and strength will increasingly impact on one another in a dialectical manner in parallel with a multipolar world order. Against that backdrop, making the CPV capable of meeting the requirements for constructing and defending the Socialist Homeland and playing the role as a ruling party is a central task.

To that end, the CPV must formulate a sound policy for the country’s development. In fact, the national development policy should be associated with building a politically strong CPV and improving its political zeal and knowledge simultaneously. That policy must be based on the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology. Being more loyal and creative must become a motto for the CPV’s ideology and action. It is essential to be loyal to the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology; however, it is also important to avoid transforming those theories and ideologies into fixed formulas. Revolution is creative while truth is specific, two of which should be flexibly applied to each condition. “It is a fight against the old and the corrupt to create the new and the good.” In the new period, the CPV must be proactive in undertaking theoretical researches, clarifying theoretical issues to make directions for reality. At the same time, the CPV must review and rely on reality to set out sound, feasible guidelines and policies. Those guidelines and policies must be the will of the CPV, the people, and the nation and they must be institutionalised by the State’s Constitution and law as well as by the sound regulations of other organisations within the political system.

Second, the CPV must enhance its capacity to direct the successful execution of its platform and resolutions. To do so, the CPV must be capable of directing practical operations and build a contingent of cadres and party members who dare to think, to do, and to take responsibility before the CPV and the people. In fact, over the years, within the CPV, a section of party members have said but not done, they have said a lot but done little, they have said good things but done bad things, and they have said one thing but done another. Therefore, special attention should be paid to matching words with action and making the ideology on renewal into specific deeds.

Third, the CPV must attach greater importance to building itself. Renewal must start from the CPV itself, which should be seen as a prerequisite for the Vietnamese revolution in general and the CPV’s governance in particular. That is both theoretically and practically true as the quality and development of the CPV act as a determinant to the success of the Vietnamese revolution. In the current revolutionary period, there are many issues of utmost importance on the CPV’s self-renewal; however, within this article, we would like to introduce three main issues as follows.

Attaching greater value to the close-knit bond between the CPV and the people. According to President Ho Chi Minh, our CPV is the working class’ offspring, it comes from the society, and it was founded by the people. Thus, the CPV has a close-knit bond with the people. Staying close to, understanding and doing everything for the people represent a must for the ruling CPV. It is necessary to be fully aware that the power which the CPV has is assigned by the people.

Attaching significance to building and rectifying the CPV morally. While considering the Party building as a key task, we must understand that building the CPV morally plays a core role. To make the CPV capable of leadership over the entire society and prevent and repel the degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle among a section of cadres and party members as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within, the CPV has no other way but to add great weight to building itself morally. The CPV’s members must be loyal to the CPV and the country and pious to the people. They must put the interests of the Homeland first and they must be really industrious, thrifty, honest, righteous, public-spirited and selfless. The CPV and each member must well manage the relationship with themselves - the most difficulty relationship among the three basic ones (with other people, with work, and with oneself). Currently, greater importance must be attached to living and working under the CPV’s platform, charter, and resolutions as well as under the State’s Constitution and law, frequently heightening the good, denouncing the evil, encouraging people to do good things, maintain close cooperation between families, schools, and the society to build a new moral environment and synchronously deal with the political, economic, cultural, and social issues for the sake of the country’s rapid and sustainable development.

Building a contingent of pure, strong cadres and party members. Among the risks of the CPV’s undermined leadership, the risk from the CPV itself is the most dangerous. If the CPV is strong from the inside, all acts of sabotage from the outside are unable to lessen its leadership or deprive it of leadership role. On the contrary, if the CPV is weak from within, negative practices within itself will be easily changed into “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Thus, due regard should be paid to performing and further renewing the personnel work as it plays a decisive role in the success of the Vietnamese revolution. It can’t be denied that there is a disturbing increase in the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle among a section of cadres and party members, even a number of senior-level ones, which has made many guidelines, policies, and strategies by the CPV inappropriate to reality. President Ho Chi Minh realised and regarded those elements as the “internal enemies.” The CPV’s governance is confronted with a lot challenges, but the biggest one comes from the CPV itself and its party members. As a result, renewing the CPV becomes a principle of survival for a ruling Party.

Doing so will enable the CPV to successfully renew and rectify itself to deserve to be a ruling Party, which means a lot to CPV on the occasion of its 90^th founding anniversary.

Prof. Mach Quang Thang, PhD