To promote its glorious tradition of 70 years of construction, combat, and development, the Political Academy under the Ministry of National Defence (MND) has determinedly built a typically strong, pure Party Organisation in light of the 13^th National Party Congress Resolution as a crucial task.

On October 25^th, 1951, Uncle Ho first visited cadres and cadets of the Vietnam People’s Army Intermediate School of Politics - the forerunner of the Political Academy (PA). The 25^th of October was then selected as the PA’s Traditional Day. During 70 years of construction, combat and development, generations of the PA’s cadres, lecturers, cadets, and soldiers have always fulfilled their assigned task. It is worth noting that the PA has trained nearly 90,000 cadres, undertaken and applied dozens of researches at State and Ministerial levels, nearly 100 military history research projects, and thousands of grassroots-level ones, designed hundreds of coursebooks and reference books on military social sciences and humanities, thereby greatly contributing to the training cause of the Party, the State, and the Military, building up its tradition of “steadfastness and development, unity and discipline, proactively, creatively overcoming difficulties, accomplishing all tasks”. For such achievements, the PA was twice given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces (2000 and 2020) by the State, together with many other noble rewards.

The PA’s Party Committee for the 2020-2025 tenure

To meet the requirements set by education, training, scientific research, and the building of a regular, advanced, exemplary PA, the Academy’s Party Committee has focused on making the Party Organisation pure and typically strong according to the 13^th National Party Congress Resolution as the decisive factor. To that end, the PA’s Party Committee and Board have synchronously implemented measures as follows.

First, build a politically, ideologically strong and morally exemplary Party Organisation. In order to achieve the objective of becoming strong politically according to the 13^th National Party Congress Resolution, the PA’s Party Committee has focused its leadership on enhancing the work of propagation and education to make all-level party committees, party organisations, cadres and party members always steadfast in Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought and loyal to the Party’s goal and ideal, clearly identify and distinguish friends and enemies, and remain vigilance against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. It has directed faculties to research into basic issues on the Party building to supplement and perfect training programmes in accord with the development of reality and contribute to maintaining the working-class nature and political orientation in education, training and scientific research. Regarding the ideological work, the PA has made a good combination of “building” and “fighting,” with a focus on the former. Great value has been attached to renewing the contents of the ideological work and methods of carrying out this work. All-level leaders and commanders have been required to grasp the thoughts and aspirations of cadres, party members and the masses, resolutely eliminate opportunism and the signs of “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation.” Additionally, due regard has been paid to stepping up the fight against wrong, hostile views to maintain the Party’s ideological foundation within the PA. Considering ethical factor as an important part of the Party building, the PA’s Party Committee has thoroughly grasped and well executed the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification in tandem with the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18^th, 2021 on continuing to accelerate the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle. Importance has been attached to synchronously, drastically adopting solutions to effectively combat and prevent the degradation in morality and lifestyle, promoting the responsibility to set role models of cadres and party members, especially the key ones in offices, faculties and cadet management units. Moreover, the PA has encouraged cadres and lecturers to proactively research, supplement, and perfect revolutionary moral standards as the basis for all staff members to follow.

Second, build an organisationally strong Party Organisation, uphold the principles and routines of the Party’s activities raise the quality of cadres and party members. This solution plays a decisive role in increasing all-level party organisations’ leadership capability and combativeness. To “enhance the leadership capability and combat strength of grassroots-level party organisations and the quality of party members,” the PA’s Party Committee has attached great importance to consolidating its affiliated party committees and organisations both quantitatively and qualitatively. Besides, consideration has been given to regularly improving capability, working method and style, and hands-on experience of all-level party committee secretaries and party members, particularly their capacity to develop and realise resolutions. Priority has been given to taking measures synchronously to grasp and manage the internal political situation. The PA has stringently ensured the principles of democratic centralism, collective leadership, and individual responsibility in the implementation of resolutions. In addition, great weight has been added to strictly maintaining party meetings and upholding the spirit of self-criticism and criticism amongst cadres and party members. Moreover, importance has been attached to supplementing and perfecting working and leadership regulations of all-level party committees. In order to continue effectively executing the MND’s Circular 11/2019/TT-BQP, dated January 24^th, 2019 on “Regulations on criteria for cadres’ positions within the PA,” the Academy has stepped up a reform in  the training and planning of cadres, especially leaders and commanders to ensure the sustainable development among generations of cadres in both medium and long terms. The PA has also intensified the management of cadres at each level, while strictly evaluating and properly using cadres. Due regard has been paid to proactively requesting higher echelons to dispatch cadres to grass-roots level so that they could gain hands-on experience. The PA has concentrated on building a contingent of lecturers and researchers in military social sciences and humanities to raise the quality of teaching and scientific research. Besides, it has well performed the work of managing, educating and training its party members, with significance attached to raising their scientific thinking, practical capacity, and revolutionary morality.

Third, actively renew leadership style and build scientific, effective working method. This is a routine task aimed at promoting the spirit of mastery, a sense of responsibility, initiative and creativity at work and improving the leadership effectiveness and task performance of party organisations, cadres and party members. Grasping the guidelines on “renovating the leadership and working style and method of the Party from Central to grassroots levels”, the Academy’s Party Committee has directed its affiliated party committees to match words with action, bring into play collective wisdom, and encourage heads of offices, faculties, and cadet management units to dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility. In the process, due attention has been paid to well handling the relationships between party committee secretaries and commanders, between heads and deputies, between superiors and subordinates, between collectives and individuals. The PA has resolutely fought against and strictly handled the signs of bureaucracy, a lack of democracy, formal democracy, arbitrariness, and the “merit-driven disease” within its Party Organisation. At the same time, significance has been attached to building the scientific working method amongst all cadres and party members to ensure that they would complete their work quickly and efficiently.

Fourth, maximise the effectiveness of inspection and supervision and strictly maintain the Party’s discipline. Under the guidelines on “raising the effectiveness and efficiency of inspection, supervision, and the Party’s discipline, strictly controlling power, and stepping up the fight against corruption and wastefulness,” the Academy’s Party Committee has advocated that “supervision must be expanded, while inspection must be focalised.” In this regard, the performance of the political task has been seen as the centre; meanwhile, the Party building and rectification, the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle, and the observance of the Party’s Charter and Regulations have been taken as criteria for assessment. Inspections and supervisions have been centred on the implementation of the political task and the Party building work associated with the handling of shortcomings and limitations according to the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 and the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW. Besides, consideration has been given to ensuring strictness, fairness and objectivity during inspections and supervisions. Emphasis has been placed on inspecting and supervising party organisations and key cadres with sensitive positions, proactively detecting and inspecting party organisations and party members with signs of violation. The PA has closely combined inspection conducted by party organisations with self-inspection, strictly handled any sign of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle, and consolidated the Party’s discipline to contribute to maintaining the purity of its Party Organisation.

Synchronously implementing the above-mentioned measures will provide a solid foundation for the PA to build a typically strong and pure Party Organisation with comprehensive leadership capacity and great combativeness to excellently accomplish all missions and deserve to be one of the leading training and research centres of the Military and our country.

Lt. Gen. PHAM TIEN DUNG, Political Commissar of the PA