The exemplary role of political officers always has a positive impact and influence on both cadres and soldiers, as well as on the position and political leadership role and mission performance within military units. Therefore, studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s instructions on the exemplary role of political cadres are always of practical significance to the building of a politically strong Army.

Throughout the leadership cause of the Vietnamese revolution, President Ho Chi Minh always emphasised the exemplary role of a pool of cadres and party members. According to him, “A living example is more valuable than a hundred propagation speeches”. Thus, he encouraged party committees, party organisations, and the contingent of cadres and party members to “use the examples of commendable individuals and their deeds as daily lessons, which was considered one of the best ways to strengthen the building of the Party, foster revolutionary organisations, and cultivate new individuals and a new life”. In the very early stage of constructing our Army, together with training a pool of political cadres to preserve the Party’s “soul and lifeblood” within the Army, he also required them to truly have exemplary dignity, work ethics and lifestyles amongst others so that they were able  to direct their cadres and soldiers to fulfil their duties successfully.

The second National Commissar Conference to which Uncle Ho sent a letter including his instructions (file photo)

President Ho Chi Minh stressed the significant impact political cadres have on their units, stating: “The capacity of political commissars has a very important influence on their units. Good political commissars lead to good soldiers or otherwise”. Regardless of the rank, “a political commissar should act as a brother, a sister, or a friend to the soldiers. Failure to embody these roles equates to a failure in fulfilling their duties”. Only when political commissars and their soldiers are on good terms do directives, orders, and plans from higher echelons are executed with enthusiasm and precision. To promote the leadership role of political cadres, President Ho Chi Minh pointed out that “Political commissars must be exemplary in every task”. In terms of material needs, political commissars are responsible for their soldiers’ daily life, including their training and combat strength. As regards spiritual needs, political commissars are tasked with enhancing discipline, eliminating decadence, cultivating culture, and reinforcing political orientation within their soldiers. Furthermore, for the sake of the Party’s consolidated leadership over the Army, political cadres “must serve as examples for all party members and the masses to follow”.

Deeply imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings, generations of military political cadres have consistently dedicated themselves to self-improvement, striving to maintain the dignity inherent in their roles. They have been absolutely loyal and prioritised the interests of the Party, the revolution, and the people over personal gain. Moreover, they have always nurtured noble ideals, aspiring to lead a virtuous and humble lifestyle, having resolutely struggled against any manifestations of individualism and setting a good example to their cadres and soldiers.

In the new context, the contingent of political cadres continues to play a crucial role in building a politically strong Army, creating a solid foundation to strive towards the goal of building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern People’s Army by 2030. Excellently fulfilling the exemplary role of political cadres not only bolsters their stature and role, but also effectively prevents the manifestations of political, ideological, ethical, and lifestyle degradation, as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. Therefore, thoroughly grasping Ho Chi Minh’s thought on the exemplary role of political cadres in the current period is a matter of some urgency. Focus should be placed on effectively implementing several solutions, as follows:

First and foremost, there should be uniformity in the awareness and responsibility of all forces regarding the exemplary role of political cadres. Party committees and key cadres of agencies and units within the whole Military should consider the fulfilment of the exemplary role as a crucial part of training and developing political cadres - a requirement to ensure their effective leadership role in party and political work at their units. Consequently, identifying the requirements for the exemplary role of political cadres, according to Ho Chi Minh’s thought, needs to be closely aligned with the content of the Party resolutions, directives, and regulations, especially Regulation 08-QĐi/TW dated 25 October 2018 of the Party Central Committee on example-setting responsibilities assumed by cadres and party members, first and foremost members of Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Party Central Committee; Regulation 37-QĐ/TW dated 25 October 2021 of the Party Central Committee on things party members must not do; Resolution 847-NQ/QUTW dated 28 December 2021 of the Central Military Commission on promoting the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and resolutely combating individualism in the new situation as a basis for clearly defining the responsibilities of party committees, key cadres, and political organs at all levels in establishing specific criteria and regulations for fulfilling the exemplary role of political commissars in units’ activities. Simultaneously, due attention should be paid to effectively carrying out education work to foster unity in awareness and responsibility among all forces.

Second, great importance should be attached to fostering the exemplary role of political cadres during the training process at academies and educational institutions. Thoroughly grasping the Party’s resolutions and directives on education and training, and adhering to the viewpoint that “the quality of education at educational institutions equates to the combat readiness of military units”, political officer training institutions, particularly Political Academy and Political Officer College, should research and improve training objectives, requirements for the purpose of training political commissars with comprehensive qualities and capabilities and pioneering  roles in practical activities.

To meet the increasingly high requirements of building a politically strong Army, military academies and educational institutions need to undergo strong and comprehensive renovation in terms of program content, educational and training methods for political cadres. It is important to closely combine the acceleration of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle with the study and updating of Party resolutions, directives, and regulations in educational and training activities. This approach aims to effectively satisfy the requirements of equipping knowledge and practical skills while nurturing ethical qualities, lifestyle, and exemplary role of political cadres right within the educational setting. Emphasis should be placed on organising extracurricular activities and practical exercises to firmly develop the qualities, character, and exemplary role of political cadres in real-life situations.

Third, it is essential to regularly nurture and promote the exemplary role of political cadres in leadership, management, and command activities in military units. The close combination of “words” and “actions” is a prominent value in Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle. It is evident through practical experience that even the smallest exemplary deeds of leaders can profoundly impact and influence their subordinates. Moreover, only by placing importance on fulfilling the role of setting an example can Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle as well as the Party’s resolutions, directives, and regulations truly become embedded in the daily life of each unit and spread throughout society. Therefore, party committees, key cadres, and political organs at all levels should pay attention to nurturing and effectively bringing into play the exemplary role of political cadres in practical activities, ensuring that they will well perform their assigned responsibilities and tasks. There should be specific mechanisms, policies, and measures to encourage and motivate their role as exemplars; concurrently, it is essential to rectify and adjust any misconceptions and inappropriate expressions. In particular, due regard should be paid to effectively performing the exemplary role of superiors towards subordinates, both in words and actions, in order to encourage mutual learning about example-setting in leadership, management, and command activities within the unit.

Promoting the role of example-setting in activities necessitates each political cadre consistently being a role model by strictly adhering to the Party’s Political Platform, Party Charter, Party resolutions, State laws, military regulations and rules, putting the interests of the collective and the unit above all and resolutely correcting manifestations of individualism and bureaucracy in task execution.

Fourth, it is vital to strengthen self-criticism and criticism, “self-reflection”, “self-improvement”, monitor and supervise the implementation of political cadres’ exemplary role. To this end, each political cadre must always understand the thoughts and aspirations of subordinates, closely follow the directives of higher echelons, and learn from colleagues to conduct effective self-criticism and criticism, “self-reflection”, and “self-improvement” on a daily basis so as to constantly enhance their qualities, ethics, and lifestyle, especially their role as exemplars in practical activities. Great value should be attached to studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle, as well as absorbing knowledge in leadership and management, thereby meeting the requirements associated with the duties and responsibilities of political cadres and contributing to building a politically strong Army. Party committees, party organisations, and inspection agencies at all levels need to strengthen the work of inspecting and supervising the contingent of political cadres. The content of inspection and supervision needs to be comprehensive, covering political ideology, motivation, attitude, work capacity, moral qualities, lifestyle, and the promotion of exemplary role in various activities. The implementation process should leverage the comprehensive strength of party committees, commandants, functional agencies, and mass organisations. It is necessary to tightly combine the inspection and supervision work of party committees and party organisations with the management work of commanders at all levels. Additionally, all-level leaders and commanders must regularly renovate the content and forms of democratic dialogue, being receptive to the opinions of mass organisations regarding political cadres. This approach aims to promote strengths, opportunely detect and effectively combat manifestations of degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle.

The exemplary role of political cadres is of special importance to carrying out party and political work within the unit. Therefore, it necessitates leaders and commanders of units thoroughly grasping the instructions of President Ho Chi Minh and creatively applying them so that the political officer cadre relentlessly enhances their exemplary conduct, always deserving to be a preserver of the “soul and lifeblood” of the Party within the Army.

Sr. Col. VU DINH BAC, PhD

Political Officer College