Reforming the method of leadership is one of the most important measures and tasks aimed at keeping enhancing the Party’s leadership capacity and combativeness to meet the requirements set by our revolution in the new period. In comparison with previous congresses, the 13th National Party Congress has supplemented new points that should be comprehended and effectively realised.

According to the 13th National Party Congress, “the Party’s leadership over organisations of the political system, particularly over the State and the building of a socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, for the people, has continued to be enhanced; at the same time, the Party’s leadership has helped promote democracy within the society and proactiveness, creativity, and responsibility of state agencies, all-level Fatherland Fronts, and politico-social organisations as well as the people’s right to mastery.” The issuance of the Party’s guidelines and resolutions has been associated with reality, democracy, and action plans. Working style and method of many agencies of the Party from Central to grass-roots levels have been renewed to be relevant to practice. Nevertheless, the Party’s leadership over the political system has been renewed rather slowly. Mechanisms for control over powers have yet to be sufficient or synchronous, while those mechanisms’ efficiency and effectiveness have yet to be really high. The Party’s guidelines and resolutions have yet to be institutionalised or concretised into laws opportunely. Resolutions by a number of party organisations have not been feasible. Leadership and direction over the implementation of several resolutions have yet to be strict or effective. Leadership by some party organisations has yet to be close. There have been weaknesses in persuading the people to execute the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws. A section of cadres and party members have yet to bring into play their exemplary role.

Member of the Politburo, Standing Member of the Secretariat Vo Van Thuong addressing the conference to introduce, study, and disseminate the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress (photo: VNA)

Those above-mentioned things will have a strong, multidimensional impact on the Party building and rectification. Hence, the 13th National Party Congress has placed emphasis on “continuing renewing the Party’s method of leadership in the new condition.” To that end, it is necessary to grasp and synchronously implement several tasks and measures as follows.

First, better the forecasting capacity and strategic vision in the formulation of the Party’s guidelines. The Party exercises its leadership over the political system and the entire society via its Political Platforms and guidelines (in the form of resolutions). This is a fundamental factor as the Party’s resolutions represent the crystallisation of collective knowledge. Inappropriacy in the Party’s resolutions will lead to far-reaching consequences, while the Party’s sound guidelines act as a determinant to victory of the Vietnamese revolution. Leadership by the Party is effective only when it develops sound Political Platforms and guidelines in accordance with the country’s practical conditions and trends of the times.

In the building of the Party’s resolutions, it is very important to well carry out forecasting work. It is essential to research into the developments of the situation both at home and abroad to make correct forecasts. Grounded on those forecasts, due attention should be paid to formulating both long-term and short-term guidelines and strategies for the country’s development in a highly feasible manner. This job is really hard for organisations and leaders, and it depends on forecasters’ political zeal and knowledge. Therefore, importance should be attached to enhancing party organisations and party members’ political zeal and knowledge. At the same time, due regard should be paid to building a contingent of experts who give advice to party organisations on developing sound Political Platforms and guidelines.

Second, renew the building and promulgation of the Party’s resolutions, raise the quality of the Party’s resolutions, and deal with the unfeasibility of the Party’s resolutions. Doing so will contribute to translating the Party’s resolutions into life. To that end, (1) it is necessary to select right topics of resolutions. Normally, topics of resolutions are soon developed in all-level party committees’ whole-tenure action programmes. However, there could be new issues which the Party should quickly grasp and research to include in its resolutions. (2) Experts should carefully, thoroughly grasp all-level party committees’ opinions both theoretically and practically to draft resolutions. Contents of resolutions must be relevant to the Party’s practical activities, universal, easy to understand, concise, and feasible. Simultaneously, it is necessary to avoid replicating resolutions between superior party organisations and inferior party organisations as well as between party organisations. (4) There should be discussions about issues, particularly between experts. Based on each condition, each topic, and the importance of each resolution, there could be consultations with member bodies of the political system and even with the entire people. Discussions about issues should be held within party committee standing boards first, then within party committees, and eventually at party organisations’ meetings. Discussions must be ended by votes and resolutions. The issuance of resolutions must be timely and in accordance with each group of party members.

Third, improve the State’s capabilities in institutionalising, concretising, and effectively implementing the Party’s guidelines. It can’t be denied that renewing the Party’s leadership over the State is of paramount importance to a reform in the Party’s method of leadership. The reason is that the socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people, and for the people under the Party’s leadership serves as an organiser and a facilitator; at the same time, it develops national policies and implements those policies. Therefore, the State is responsible for institutionalising and concretising the Party’s guidelines. The Party leads the National Assembly and the Government to raise the legislative quality and conduct administrative and judicial reforms. In our society nowadays, supreme power belongs to the people. The Party and the State with its legislative, executive, and judicial agencies are responsible for serving the people and work as servants of the people. The State must be placed under the Party’s leadership and perform its function as manager of the society via the system of laws which are institutionalised from the Party’s guidelines and from the people’s proxy and right to mastery. The Party exercises its leadership over the political system and the State via the system of party organisations within the state apparatus. Due to their ruling role, party organisations within the state apparatus are responsible for exercising their leadership, especially over personnel work as the Party uniformly leads the entire political system’s personnel work. All-level party organisations are responsible for nominating cadres and party members to the State’s agencies and organisations.

Fourth, ensure the Party’s uniform leadership over all-level Fatherland Fronts and politico-social organisations, and respect those organisations’ organisational and operational principles, roles, self-reliance, and creativity. In all aspects of social life, all-level Fatherland Fronts and politico-social organisations are the people’s organisations. Performing its function as the core of the political system, the Party must guarantee its uniform leadership over those organisations. In the leadership process, it is important to respect those organisations’ organisational and operational principles, roles, self-reliance, and creativity, fight against the subjective imposition of the Party’s leadership and direction, and renew the method of propagation to achieve a consensus amongst the people so that they will effectively implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies. The strength of the national great unity block is a yardstick for assessing the soundness of the Party’s leadership over all-level Fatherland Fronts and politico-social organisations.

Fifth, concretise the principle of collective leadership and individual accountability in the performance of the political task and deal with unleashed leadership and management. More than ever before, the Party should strictly maintain the principles of party organisation and building, particularly its principle of collective leadership and individual accountability. It is necessary to respect collective leadership, bring into play collective knowledge and action, and heighten individual responsibility. Significance should be attached to resolutely preventing, combating, and handling arbitrariness, autocracy, bureaucracy, and helplessness. In fact, in some party organisations, there exist unleashed leadership and management. In order to effectively renew the Party’s method of leadership, it is vital to settle this problem at any rate.

There is a fact that the Party exercises its leadership over the political system via its organisations and members. The vanguard, exemplary role of cadres and party members serves as a requirement for a reform in the Party’s leadership over the political system and the entire society. Thus, it is necessary to promote the vanguard, exemplary role performed by cadres and party members within the state apparatus, all-level Fatherland Fronts, and politico-social organisations. Party organisations, cadres, and party members should observe the Constitution and laws and actively implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies. Hence, there should be specific regulations on responsibility and authority of party organisations and cadres, particularly the key ones in their relationships with party organisations and other organisations within the society. Also, there should be mechanisms for dismissing cadres and party members with poor task performance, or violations of laws, public service ethics, or professional ethics, or low prestige for the people.

Sixth, the Party exercises its leadership over the political system and the society via inspection and supervision work. This is of importance to renewing the Party’s method of leadership to meet the requirements set by our revolution in the new situation. Therefore, this measure should be implemented by routine inspections and supervisions within the Party, by coordination with other organisations within the political system, and by the people’s participation. Besides, inspection and supervision work should be combined with the organisation of reviews to draw lessons from the implementation of the Party’s resolutions and the fight against corruption, wastefulness, and bureaucracy. This is the most effective method of combating “internal invaders.” It should be noted that since the “blazing furnace” crackdown on corruption was taken by General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, without “restricted area,” all cadres and party members have been equal before law and the Party’s Charter; it has helped deal with privilege and build up revolutionary morality within the entire Party and the society.

Furthermore, consideration should be given to proactively reviewing, amending, and supplementing the Party’s system of documents in accordance with the Constitution to ensure uniformity, synchronicity, and connectivity within the political system. Great weight should be added to actively applying information technology to the Party’s leadership over the political system and gradually carrying out a digital transformation under the 13th National Party Congress Resolution.

The Party’s method of leadership should always be perfected to be relevant to the new condition. To satisfy the requirements set by our revolution nowadays, it is necessary to keep renewing the Party’s method of leadership and further enhancing the Party’s leadership and ruling capacity so as to facilitate the country’s rapid, sustainable development under the goal of national independence and socialism.

Prof. MACH QUANG THANG, PhD