President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the mass mobilization work and the instructions in his work entitled “Mass Mobilization” represent a manual for the Military’s cadres and soldiers to well carry out the mass mobilization work and cement the solidarity between the people and the military as a source of strength for the Military to successfully fulfil its assigned task. Promoting the recorded outcome, the whole Military should continue stepping up the mass mobilization work, well performing its function as “an army ready for work”, and meeting the task requirements in the new situation.

70 years ago, to facilitate the resistance war against the French, carry out the mass mobilization work widely and deeply to encourage the human and material resources to the utmost for the resistance war, and remind all cadres, party members, unions, and the armed forces to better perform this work, President Ho Chi Minh wrote the article entitled “Mass Mobilization” on the Truth Newspaper, on October 15^th 1949. The article was written in an exemplary, short, profound manner and indicated the purpose, content, and method of the mass mobilization work as a manual for cadres, party members, and unions. His ideology and instructions in the article remain valuable.

Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich, member of the Politburo, Minister of National Defence, photographed with tyical examples of "clever mass mobilization" (photo: VNA)

The Vietnam People’s Army was founded, led, and trained by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and President Ho Chi Minh. It is an army by the people and for the people, endowed with the characteristics of the working class and the Vietnamese people and nation. Thus, conducting the mass mobilization represents not only the Military’s task and function, but also the sentiment and responsibility of cadres and soldiers in order to pay debt of gratitude for the people’s protection and nurture. Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teaching: “clever mass mobilization will lead to the success of all work,” over the past 75 years, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), the General Department of Politics (GDP) and all-level party committees and commands have always focused their leadership and direction on performing the mass mobilization work, which has been highly appreciated by the Party, State, and people. Thanks to this work, in the wars for national liberations, the Military was always protected and nurtured by the people as a great source of strength for it to successfully fulfil all missions and gain glorious victories, with the victories of Dien Bien Phu battle “resonating across five continents, shaking the globe” and historic Ho Chi Minh campaign defeating the US Imperialists and reunifying the country as the peak.

To meet the requirements set by the Homeland construction and defence, the CMC has grasped and strictly executed the Party’s resolutions and directives on the mass mobilization work, while concretizing those documents into circulars, action programs, and guidance on the work of mass mobilization, ethnicity, and religion as well as on the Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations. At the same time, it has advised the Party and State on policies for the Military and the Army Rear as the basis for bettering the mass mobilization work in the new situation. All-level party committees and commands have formulated leadership measures, assigned the task to their members, and developed the action plans. They have also well carried out the work of propagation and education to improve party members, cadres, and soldiers’ awareness of the mass mobilization work’s importance and therefore raise their responsibility in the process. All-level political offices and cadres have assisted commands in exercising direction, formulating guidance and action plans, and combining the mass mobilization work with units and localities’ political task as well as the building of strong, pure party organizations and comprehensively strong units. The content and form of mass mobilization have been frequently renewed and centred on building various effective models and approaches in accordance with each area and unit. The work of inspection and review has been put in order. Strategic-level offices have attached significance to studying and reviewing reality, which has helped clarify many new issues and gradually complete the system of research and guiding documents for the whole Military. The coordination between the Military and Central committees, ministries and sectors, particularly between the GDP and the Central Commission for Mass Mobilization as well as between military units and local authorities and unions in each area has been enhanced with specific programs, regulations, and activities. The mechanism for coordination has been well conducted and promoted local authorities’ leadership role and the cooperation between forces and socio-political organizations, thereby creating the synergy for mass mobilization.

Reality has proved that the mass mobilization work has contributed to achieving a sense of consensus among the people on the Party’s guidelines, the State’ law and policy, and local regulations, and consolidating their faith in the Party, socialist regime, Military, and all-level party committees and authorities. The units stationed in the remote, isolated, ethnic minority inhabited, key defence and security, border, sea, and island areas have persuaded the people to settle down, get rid of depraved customs, take part in crime prevention and control, and avoid being incited to join protests aimed at destabilizing political security and social order and safety in the area by the hostile forces. Military units have actively taken part in building strong grass-roots level political bases and contributed to making many villages no longer devoid of party members and cells. As a result, many party committees and cells have been consolidated with the raised leadership and combativeness while authorities and socio-political organizations have promoted their role in managing localities. At the same time, they have participated in fostering socio-economic and cultural development, removing hunger and poverty, improving the people’s material and mental life, and combining socio-economic development with the consolidation of defence-security potential and the building of all-people national defence posture, people’s security posture, defensive zones, and “people’s hearts and minds” posture. Notably, military offices and soldiers have played a vanguard, core role in natural disaster prevention and control as well as search and rescue, overcoming all difficulties, readily sacrificing their life, helping the people to quickly stabilize life and restore production, thereby bolstering the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period.

In the upcoming time, the task of Homeland construction and defence has advantages and faces challenges. Disputes over sea and island sovereignty are complex and unpredictable. It is confronted with the dark side of the market economy; corruption and degradation in political ideology, ethics, and life among a section of cadres and party members cause public outrage; natural disasters, environment pollution and epidemics witness complex developments. Meanwhile, the hostile forces are taking of the issues on ethnicity, religion, democracy, and human rights and our drawbacks of socio-economic management and development to sabotage the Party, State and Military, incite “self-evolution,” “self-transformation,” and “depoliticization” and “civilization” of our Military as well as undermine the national great unity block and the relations between the Party, State, Military, and people. That situation necessitates the whole Military continuing to step up the mass mobilization work, create a sense of consensus within the society, and therefore consolidate the people’s faith in the Party and nation’s revolutionary cause. To that end, party committees and commands of offices and units should flexibly employ President Ho Chi Minh’s instructions in his article of “Mass Mobilization”, with a focus on the following measures.

First, keeping raising the party committees, cadres, and soldiers’ awareness of the mass mobilization work in the new situation. According to President Ho Chi Minh and our Party, the people constitute the source of strength and a large force of the revolution. Thus, he required authorities, unions, and the armed forces to better the mass mobilization work. As the quality and effectiveness of this work greatly depends on cadres and soldiers’ awareness, responsibility, capacity, and working method, it is important to render cadres and soldiers, particularly key cadres and the forces in charge of mass mobilization fully aware of the people’s role in the revolutionary cause and of the importance of the Party and Military’s mass mobilization work in the new situation. That is a task of strategic importance to the Party and nation’s revolutionary cause and an essential basis for ensuring the Party’s leadership and the State’s management and for cementing the close-knit bond between the Party, State, and people. That is also the basic, long-term function and political task of sectors, forces, and all military cadres and soldiers. Thus, offices and units should focus on rendering cadres and soldiers imbued with Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the Party’s guidelines, and the State’s law and policy on the mass mobilization work, particularly the 11^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 25-NQ/TW, dated June 3^rd 2013, on “enhancing and renewing the Party’s leadership over the mass mobilization work in the new situation,” the CMC’s Resolution 49-NQ/QUTW, dated January 26^th 2015, on “enhancing and renewing the Military’s mass mobilization work in the new situation,” and today’s issues on this work. Doing so will help achieve a consensus on the viewpoints, guidelines, and requirements among forces and sectors, heighten their responsibility in the process, improve cadres and soldiers’ necessary knowledge of local economy, society, traditional customs, and language and their working style and method in accordance with each area, particularly in the remote, isolated, ethnic minority inhabited, border, sea, and island areas.

Second, strengthening the leadership and direction of party committees, commissars, commanders, and political offices and cadres over mass mobilization. President Ho Chi Minh ever wrote: “authorities’ officials, cadres of unions, and members of mass organizations (Lien Viet, Viet Minh, etc.) must be in charge of mass mobilization.” Following his ideology, party committees and organizations and key cadres at all levels must heighten a sense of responsibility and enhance their leadership and direction over this important work. A focus should be placed on leading and directing the implementation of the CMC’s Regulations on the Mass Mobilization Work and combine the effectiveness of mass mobilization with the outcome of party committees’ leadership and cadres and party members’ task performance as the basis for assessing party organizations and members as well as for evaluating, rewarding, and appointing cadres and party members. It is necessary to avoid considering mass mobilization as the task of political offices and mass mobilization cadres only. Due attention should be paid to strengthening party committees’ leadership, direction, inspection and supervision towards the mass mobilization work and ensuring the policy for cadres and soldiers in charge of this work at the grass-roots level. Great value should be attached to reviewing practice, studying theories about the mass mobilization work in the new condition, and exchanging experiences in this work and learning from other countries’ armies in order to supplement theories and experiences in the Party and Military’s mass mobilization work in the new situation. Due regard should be paid to detecting, developing, and multiplying effective, creative typical examples, approaches, and “soldiers of clever mass mobilization” across the Military and the country.

Besides, offices and units should well implement the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification, the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, and the Campaign entitled “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers.” It is important to further educate cadres, party members, and soldiers to observe the Military’s discipline, the State’s law, and especially the mass mobilization discipline, to heighten the vanguard, exemplary role, to match words with action, and to build pure, strong party organizations and comprehensively strong offices and units. Doing so will help consolidate the people’s faith in military cadres and soldiers and gain the people’s support for the performance of the tasks.

Third, continuing to renew and diversify the content and form of mass mobilization in each area and group of units. To effectively conduct the mass mobilization work, it is essential to adopt proper approaches, content, form, and method. Following Ho Chi Minh’s teachings, cadres, party members, those who are in charge of mass mobilization, and units should attach greater importance to renewing the content, form, and method of mass mobilization, actively studying and settling the arising issues, well carrying out the mass mobilization work in the urban areas, industrial zones, export processing zones, and remote, isolated, ethnic minority inhabited, sea, island, border areas. It is necessary to continue promoting the twinning activities, military training march associated with mass mobilization, and working teams, deploying cadres to grass-roots level areas, and encouraging typical examples and effective models. At the same time, due regard should be paid to identifying and multiplying new, effective models and approaches, combining units’ Determination to Win Emulation Movement with localities’ Patriotic Emulation  Movement, the Mass Mobilization Movement, and other movements and campaigns launched by the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations. Moreover, it is imperative to better conduct the movements and campaigns, namely “Gratitude,” “The Military joins hands in building new countryside,” “Building healthy, diverse cultural environment within the Military,” and “All people unite in building new countryside and civilized urban area,” and the models, namely “Reducing the rate of hunger and poverty,” “Homes for the poor in the border, sea, and island area”, “Bank of cows,” and “Kinh and ethnic minority households assist each other in improving their economic condition” in accordance with each area’s particularities and local customs, thereby raising the mass mobilization work’s effectiveness.

Fourth, cooperating with Central committees, sectors, and ministries, local authorities, unions, and socio-political organizations, and the forces stationed in the areas to promote the synergy for the mass mobilization work. To do so, offices and units should develop the action programs and regulations for coordination in accordance with the task and particularities of units and stationed areas, bring into play the role of offices, particularly the political offices, and stay close to localities’ situation and political task so as to proactively advise party committees and commands on cooperating with local authorities and socio-political organizations and the forces stationed in the areas in the process. Great value should be attached to promoting the role of mass organizations as the subject and object of mass mobilization in various types of offices and units. It is necessary to maintain cooperation in encouraging the people to implement the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy as well as the strategies for socio-economic, cultural development and defence-security and the movements launched by the Party, State, Fatherland Front, and localities. Emphasis should be placed on encouraging the ethnic minority people, religious people, and those who are living in the border, sea, and island areas to well execute the Party’s foreign policy and defence diplomacy line in order to build the border of peace, friendship, stability, and development. It is important to resolutely unmask the hostile forces’ nature, plots, and artifices aimed at undermining the national great unity block and the unity between the Party, State, Military, and people so as to contribute to foiling their “peaceful evolution” strategy and their plots to incite “self-evolution”, “self-transformation,” and “depoliticization” of the Military. Consideration should be given to helping the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, new countryside building, socio-economic development associated with defence and security, and natural disaster prevention and mitigation. Due regard should be paid to cooperating with other forces and organizations in resolutely preventing and combating crime and building safe areas, new cultural life, and strong political bases.

Fifth, building and consolidating the organizational structure of mass mobilization offices and improving its quality and effectiveness. It is essential to continue consolidating the system of mass mobilization offices in a compact, strong manner, building a contingent of high-quality mass mobilization cadres, selecting and initiating cadres with good capacity, enthusiasm, and hands-on experiences into mass mobilization offices at all levels, and providing preferential treatment policies for mass mobilization cadres working in the remote, isolated, border areas and communes. To that end, it is important to renew the program, content, and method of training officers in charge of mass mobilization at military schools, to further improve the socio-economic, legal, ethnic, religious knowledge and specialized skills of cadres, seconded cadres, and teams in charge of mass mobilization, particularly ethnic minority cadres so that they know how to effectively encourage and persuade the people with their words and action.

Being imbued with and flexibly applying President Ho Chi Minh’s instructions in his work entitled “Mass Mobilization” as well as promoting the outcome and experience of the mass mobilization work, offices and units across the Military should continue renewing comprehensively the mass mobilization work and raising this work’s effectiveness, thereby contributing to cementing the military-civilian unity and building the posture of “people’s hearts and minds” as the basis for the Military to successfully fulfil the task of Homeland defence in the new period.

Lt. Gen. Tran Quang Phuong, Member of the Party Central Committee

Member of the CMC, Deputy Director of the GDP, the Vietnam People’s Army