Enhancing the leadership capacity of party committees and cells is a regular and important task for the entire military in general, and Military Region 5 in particular. For the units in charge of combat training under the Military Region, the enhancement of leadership capacity within party committees and cells has been an urgent requirement, necessitating synchronised and effective solutions to meet the evolving demands and tasks.

Party cells are the foundation of the Party, directly managing, educating, and training party members; they serve as the bridge between the Party and the masses, and the political nuclei of the Party at the grass-roots level. President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated: “To lead the revolution, the Party must be strong. The Party’s strength comes from good party cells,” and “if the party cells are good, everything will be good.” Party committees and cells in combat units of the Military Region are responsible for leading company-level units (with stable organisation and full personnel), with the central political tasks of training, combat readiness, regularity building, and discipline management. Currently, party cells of combat units under the Military Region make up more than 19% of the total number of party cells, with nearly 17.4% of which having party committees. Members of these party committees as well as heads and deputy heads of these party cells are mostly trained properly and adequately streamlined on a par with the task requirements. However, the leadership ratio is low due to a relatively small number of party members (about nine party members). Most of the cadres and party members are relatively young and have little work experience, which significantly affects the leadership capacity of their party committees and cells.

A workshop on raising the quality of meetings of party cells within full-strength companies, held in the provincial military command of Dak Lak

Fully aware of this situation, over the years, alongside its leadership and direction over the implementation of military and defence tasks, the Military Region Party Committee Standing Board has focused on building strong party committees and cells within combat units, ensuring they are capable of leading their units to accomplish their tasks. Party committees at all levels have consistently directed their subordinate party committees and cells to perform their functions and duties properly, strictly adhere to the principles and regulations of party meetings, and integrate the building of strong party committees and cells with the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong company-level units. In addition, they have led and directed the organisation of party cell congresses and the consolidation of party committees and organisations at all levels after party congresses in accordance with the higher echelons’ regulations. Superior party committees have directed and directly appraised the content of party cell meetings; they have also assigned party committee members and political offices to regularly monitor, inspect, and assess the leadership quality within each unit in a rigorous and unified manner.

Party committees and cells within combat units have consistently, deeply grasped directives from the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and the General Political Department regarding party building, proactively devising creative and effective solutions to enhance leadership capacity, strictly adhering to the process of issuing resolutions relevant to the characteristics, tasks, practical issues of each unit whilst regularly updating and refining their working regulations and leadership protocols for key works, correctly identifying their functions, duties, and areas of responsibility to provide comprehensive leadership for the unit, especially in handling difficult or unexpected tasks, thereby effectively fulfilling their role as the political nucleus at grass-roots level.

However, compared to the increasingly demanding tasks of the units and the requirements for party building and rectification, the leadership capacity of some party committees and cells within combat units still shows inadequacies. In some cases, certain party committees and cells did not strictly adhere to the principle of democratic centralism; they were slow in identifying key works and correcting weaknesses. The management, education, and training of cadres and party members were not sufficiently rigorous or comprehensive, and the capabilities of some cadres and party members did not meet the required standards and tasks, etc. The primary reason for those was that the awareness of some party committees, party organisations, cadres and party members about the requirements and importance of enhancing the leadership capacity of party committees and cells was not sufficient. Additionally, some party committees and political departments did not consistently direct, guide, or inspect the implementation of the operational procedures and leadership processes of the party committees and cells. The training of secretaries, deputy secretaries, and party committee members was not conducted regularly. This reality urgently demands comprehensive and effective solutions to enhance the leadership capacity of party committees and cells within combat units to meet the requirements and tasks in the new situation. Within the scope of this article, we propose some solutions to this issue for further study and discussion.

First, focusing on raising awareness among cadres and party members, creating a significant shift in individual responsibility in alignment with their assigned duties, effectively promoting the leadership role and capacity of party committees and cells in each task of the unit. Accordingly, party committees and cells must regularly grasp directives on party building, namely Conclusion 18-KL/TW, dated 22 September 2017 by the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat; Guidance 1677/HD-CT, dated 28 September 2018 by the General Political Department, and Resolution 11-NQ/ĐU, dated 2 May 2008 by the Military Region Party Committee on “Enhancing the leadership capacity and combat strength of grassroots-level party organisations, raising the quality of cadres and party members in the armed forces of the Military Region in the new period,” among others. In addition, continuous and persistent education and dissemination within party committees and cells should be conducted regularly so that every cadre and party member feels the honour and pride in performing the duties of a party member; at the same time, they should clearly grasp the special importance of party building, particularly in enhancing the leadership capacity of party committees and cells in the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong units and the task performance of each individual and the whole unit. For the sake of desired effectiveness, higher-level party committees, along with their subordinate party committees and cells should check understanding of the content of monthly party cell meetings before and after each party gathering; these checks should be included in the evaluation of the end-of-year political awareness assessments so that each cadre and party member must be compelled to enhance their political knowledge and take personal responsibility for improving the leadership capacity of party committees and cells, in conjunction with fulfilling their assigned duties in their respective roles.

Second, strengthening the leadership and direction of senior party committees and political departments at all levels, building strong party committees and cells within combat units. On a monthly and quarterly basis, grass-roots level party committees should plan to assign party committee members and representatives from political departments to attend party cell meetings to grasp the situations; at the same time, they should assist party cell secretaries and party committee members in mastering the principles, processes, and methods of organising a party meeting as well as selecting leadership content in line with the practical tasks and the regulations and guidelines set by the Central Organisation Commission and the General Political Department. Besides, all-level political departments should regularly provide guidance and concretise leadership processes in line with each type of party cells within combat units, strengthening the monitoring and checking of mission performance by each party committee and cell for timely assistance and corrections.

Additionally, effective measures should be implemented to build strong party committees and cells with comprehensive leadership capacity and high combat strength. Emphasis should be placed on building full-strength companies with fully staffed party committees; the building of party committees and cells should be closely linked with the building of a contingent of key cadres at all levels. Besides, efforts should be intensified to diversify the content and forms of training and education to enhance the capacity to conduct Party work among the secretaries, deputy secretaries, party committee members, and political cadres of combat units. Annually, in addition to the mandated content, party committees at all levels should focus on in-depth education on new points relevant to the practical situation of each unit for cadres who join party committees for the first time while paying special attention to guiding and assisting party committees and cells in overcoming shortcomings in the preparation for and selection of leadership content and the skills of holding party meetings for secretaries, deputy secretaries, and party committee members. Additionally, the leadership style, working methods and etiquette of party committees, commands, and key cadres should continue to be innovated towards a more scientific, democratic, thorough, proactive, and creative approach in accordance with realities and the unit’s situation.

Third, improving the quality of meetings of party committees and cells. Party committees and cells need to closely adhere to and concretise the criteria for evaluating the quality of party cell meetings according to Guidance 1677/HD-CT by the General Political Department in each party session. Careful attention should be paid to all aspects of meeting preparation from content to format, programmes, and venue in line with the political requirements and tasks of party cells at each specific time. The selection of the content of periodical meetings must be accurate, practical, and relevant to the unit’s situation and monthly tasks, focusing on key areas and avoiding overlap between leadership content and professional tasks. In addition, special meetings should be organised effectively to address difficulties and obstacles in task execution and enhance the educational effectiveness of party cell meetings.

Along with strictly maintaining party meetings, party committees and cells should creatively and flexibly apply different appropriate forms and methods of conducting meetings in close alignment with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts, ethics, and style, as well as the example-setting responsibility of cadres and party members. Besides, it is crucial to uphold the principle of democratic centralism, harness collective brainwork, and encourage Party members’ constructive spirit to make timely, practical and highly feasible decisions. Also, the content of party cell meetings should be announced at least a day in advance so that party members can proactively prepare their opinions and arrange their time for the sake of meeting attendance.

Fourth, promoting responsibility and synergy in the implementation of resolutions, regularly inspecting and assessing the leadership outcomes of party committees and cells. This is a crucial aspect of the process that clearly demonstrates the leadership capacity of party committees and cells. Therefore, once a resolution is in place, party committees and cells must put party committee members in charge of specific areas of work, developing plans, and focusing on directing task implementation. Also, it is important to effectively disseminate and thoroughly communicate the resolution to all cadres and soldiers; to promote the exemplary role of cadres and party members, the pioneering responsibility of youth union members, and the democratic rights of all military personnel; and to motivate cadres and soldiers to enthusiastically strive to successfully implement the party cell’s resolution and their assigned tasks whilst it is essential to closely monitor all activities of subordinate groups to inspect, grasp, and assess the task performance, opportunely adjust and supplement measures of leadership and direction in line with the evolution of practical situations within the unit.

The solutions to enhance the leadership capacity of party committees and cells within combat units is a both urgent and long-run issue aimed at meeting the increasing demands and tasks in the new situation of the entire Military in general and the armed forces of Military Region 5 in particular. This requires continued attention, research and supplementation in the coming time.

Senior Colonel TRAN DUC GIANG

Head of the Organisation Division, Political Department of Military Region 5