Bac Lieu province is located in the key economic zone of Mekong River delta. In recent years, the Province has made significant achievements in the social, economic, cultural, defence and security fields. However, political security and social order in the Province’s area have experienced complicated developments. The hostile forces have fostered the “self-evolution” strategy, taking advantage of human rights, religion and nationalism to incite lawsuits over land disputes, compensation and site clearance. Moreover, social evils, crime and traffic accidents have been on the rise. Those have made a great impact on the Province’s development, particularly the observance of State law and the military disciplines of cadres and troops of the Provincial armed forces. To fulfil the assigned tasks, the Provincial Military Party Committee and Command have adopted various measures for law propagation, dissemination and education.

First and foremost, strengthening the leadership and direction of party committees and commanders, while promoting the role and responsibility of the Council for Law Dissemination and Education. Fully understanding the importance of law propagation, dissemination and education to raising cadres and troops’ awareness of law observance, the Provincial Military Party Executive Committee has directed its organs and units to include law propagation, dissemination and education in their party committee’s working program, while timely completing the structure of the Council for Law Dissemination and Education in accordance with the Circular 42/2016/TT-BQP of the Ministry of National Defence. In reality, the quality of law propagation, dissemination and education depends on capacity, skills and teaching methodology of  law disseminators, politics instructors and cadres. Thus, annually, the Provincial Military Party Committee and Command proactively hold training courses for law disseminators of units and send them to academies and universities to study.

During the implementation process, the Provincial Military Party Committee has directed military party organizations and cells to review their performance of law propagation, dissemination and education as well as their practice of discipline. A part from assigning members of the Council to the task of law propagation, dissemination and education, the Council has closely worked with the Provincial Public Security, 1st Zone Court of the Military Region 9, 93rd Zone Procuracy, 1st Zone Criminal Investigation Agency to grasp the situation and guide law propagation, dissemination and education. Yearly, the Council  proactively suggests measures to the party executive committees and commanders to conduct the work of law propagation, dissemination and education, while promoting the role of its members in direction, inspection, periodic review to draw lessons, overcome limitations and identify guideline and measures for the further implementation.

To achieve efficiency, the Provincial Military Command has attached great importance to building up program and classifying groups of subjects appropriately to the situation and tasks of units and localities. The Provincial Military Party Committee and Command have directed units and localities to study and grasp basic contents of the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments, preventing and fighting against economic crime in the Army, preventing and combating violations of management of weapons, equipment and explosive materials in the Army. To improve cadres and troops’ knowledge of law and discipline, it has required the addition of documents to the program, such as Directive No.4/CT-BQP of the Ministry of National Defence on “Enhancing discipline management and education; preventing and fighting against serious violation of law in the Army; Traffic law and several measures to improve traffic safety, training and work safety in the Army; Law on Cadres and Civil Servants; Law on Militia and Self-Defence Forces, and other documents related to defence and security tasks. As for the active forces, the Province has held courses for cadres and troops to study topics, such as the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army 2014, the Anti-Corruption Law, the Law on Thrift Practice and Wastefulness Combat,  the Law on Health Insurance. It has required the serious implementation of National Defence Minister’s Directive and resolutions of the Military Region’s Party Committee and Provincial Military Party Committee on prohibiting the use of alcohol during working hours. For the militia and self-defence forces, it has focused on raising vigilance against intelligence collection activities to protect military and national secrets, and studying documents, such as the Law on Militia and Self-Defence Forces, the Law on Petition and Accusation, the Ordinance on Dykes, etc. For the reserve forces, the Provincial Council for Law Propagation, Dissemination and Education has required units to study the Ordinance on the Reserve Forces, the Law on Military Service, the Conclusion No.41-KL/TW of the CPV Central Committee Secretariat on continued implementation of the Politburo’s Directive No.16-CT/TW on “Strengthening the Party’s leadership over the militia and self-defence forces and the reserve forces in the new situation”.

Moreover, the Council has directed organs and units to focus on innovating education forms and methods, cooperating with the mass media (from Central level to grass-roots level) and building law book shelves. In addition to in-class study, political organ has directed diversification of form of law propagation, dissemination and education, i.e. seminars, contests, the Mass Show under the theme “The whole people prevent and combat drugs”. Military organs at levels have been proactive in working with units in the area, local party committees and authorities to hold seminars to disseminate the Party’s guideline, the State’s law and policy, and broaden knowledge of defence and security. They have also focused on cooperating with the Navy, the Border Guard, and the Coast Guard to conduct propaganda campaigns aiming at coastal militia and self-defence forces and fishermen on military diplomacy, legal fishing grounds, preventing and combating drugs and smuggling.

To facilitate cadres and troops’ training and self-improvement, the Provincial Military Command has required the serious maintenance of military administrative order, regularity, discipline and the Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations, while improving their material and spiritual life as well as the policy on the soldiers and officers’ families. Party committees and commanders of organs and units have always combined closely the work of law propagation, dissemination and education with the implementation of the Central Resolution No.4 (12th tenure) on Party building and rectification, the 12th Politburo’s Directive on acceleration of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and style, the Campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, the “Determined to Win” Emulation Movement, etc.

The successful implementation of law propagation, dissemination and education has made a dramatic change in discipline management and practice, regularity and military cultural building. Since the beginning of 2017, the Provincial armed forces have not recorded any serious violations of discipline yet; normal violations of discipline have decreased to below 0.3%; relationships have been well managed. Those have contributed to the Provincial armed forces’ successful fulfilment of military and defence tasks and building of pure, strong Provincial Military Party Organization and comprehensively strong Provincial Military Command.

Senior Colonel Le Hoang Giu

Commissar of the Provincial Military Command