The history of foundation, building, combat, and development of Viet Nam People's Army (VPA) is also the history of foundation, development, and recognition for the great contribution of the General Political Department (GPD) to the struggle for national liberation, unification, building, and defence of the socialist Vietnamese Homeland. Under the leadership of the Politburo, Party Central Committee Secretariat, and most directly and regularly the Central Military Commission (CMC), the GPD has been bringing into play its role as a body to conduct strategic studies and advice, direct, instruct, and coordinate the implementation of Party work and political work in missions with good quality and effectiveness. Additionally, it has successfully advised and directed the building of a strong VPA in terms of politics, ensuring the Party's absolute, direct leadership in every aspect over the VPA and making the VPA's officers and soldiers absolutely faithful to the Party's glorious revolutionary cause and capable of accomplishing every task entrusted by the Party, State, and people.

To deserve the confidence and affection of the Party, State and people and successfully perform its strategic advisory function in the fields of Party work and political work, the GPD has paid constant attention to making the GPD Party Committee pure and robust, the GPD Office comprehensive strong, strictly maintained regulations and principles on Party work and political work activities, and improved the quality of self-criticism and criticism to promote democracy, solidarity and internal unity. Moreover, it has paid due regard to developing the GPD Office's corps of cadres with comprehensive dignity and competence, and actively renewed working style to meet the demands, functions and missions of a strategic advisory body in Party work and political work. The GPD Office always takes the leading role in grasping and implementing resolutions of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (tenures XI and XII) on Party building in connection with studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style and the campaign of "promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho's Soldiers." The corps of cadres, especially the leading ones at all levels of the GPD, always heighten their sense of responsibility for complying with regulations of the Party Central Committee and the CMC’s standing committee on setting bright examples and bring attention to carrying out policies so as to create a favourable environment for officers, staff and soldiers to study and train themselves, develop a strong attachment to their units, and manage to complete every assigned tasks.

Over the past 75 years, generations of officers, staff and soldiers have shown their political steadfastness and absolute faithfulness to the Homeland, Party, State and people, stuck close on grassroots levels and practicalities of Party work and political work of units in the whole military, timely advised the Politburo, Party Central Committee Secretariat and CMC and directly instructed the whole military to carry out Party work and political work in a comprehensive, synchronised manner, laying the foundation for enhancing overall quality and combat power, together with the whole Party and military, accomplishing the struggle for national liberation, unification, building and firm protection of the Homeland, and building up the tradition of "loyalty, consistence, example, representation, principle, democracy, proactiveness, creativeness, keenness, solidarity, unity, determination to fight and determination to win."

General Luong Cuong granting flags of the GDP for its outstanding units in the Determine to Win Emulation movement in the 2014 - 2019 period (photo: qdnd)

Nowadays, the cause of reform, national construction and defence takes place within the context of complex, unforeseeable developments in the region and the world. Disputes over territories and sovereignty over waters and islands, particularly in the East Sea, are witnessing increasingly complex, unforeseeable developments, which potentially leads to instability and directly threatens peace and security of the region and each nation. After 30 years of reform, the status, strength and prestige our country in the international arena have been heightened, creating fundamental premises for executing the missions of national construction and defence. However, our country still confronts many difficulties and challenges, especially the fierce sabotage of hostile forces, reactionaries and political opportunists by means of subtle, malicious tricks, "peaceful evolution," and spur to "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party, "depoliticisation" and "civilianisation" of the military. Degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle, bureaucracy, corruption, and wastefulness among part of cadres and party members have not been pushed back. The dark side of the market economy and social evils have also had influence on psychology, thought, sentiment, and lifestyle of cadres, soldiers and people.

The above situation places high requirements on Party work and political work and requires the GPD to be made comprehensively strong, deserving to be the strategic advisory body in the fields of Party work and political work, and making vital, decisive contribution to upholding and strengthening the Party's absolute, direct leadership over the VPA in every aspect, building a robust Military Party Committee in terms of politics, ideology, organisation, and ethics, making the VPA politically strong, creating a basis for improving its overall strength and combat power and enabling the VPA to accomplish every task entrusted by the Party, State and people. Consequently, in the coming time, the GPD should concentrate on carrying out the following measures.

First, regularly, deeply grasping and coordinating the successful implementation of the Party's resolutions and directives and the State's policies and laws on military and national defence, notably the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress, resolutions of the Party Central Committee (tenure XII), Resolution of the 8th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (tenure XI) on Strategy to Safeguard the Homeland in the New Situation, Resolution of the 10th Military Party Congress, Resolution of the 18th Party Congress of the GPD Office, Viet Nam Defence Strategy, Viet Nam Military Strategy, Strategy to Safeguard National Border, Strategy to Safeguard the Homeland in the cyberspace, and so on. Moreover, the GPD needs to closely follow missions, well undertake strategic studies and advice, and direct the whole military to carry out content, programmes and plans on Party work and political work in a synchronised manner, contributing to firmly maintaining and strengthening the Party's absolute, direct, all-round leadership over the VPA and making the VPA politically strong. The GPD is to closely collaborate with commissions, ministries, branches, and unions at the Central and local levels to put the Party work and political work into practice synchronously, comprehensively and effectively. Coordinated programmes between the GPD and Party's commissions, news agencies and communications agencies should be implemented actively so as to improve the effectiveness of propaganda on military and defence missions, defence diplomacy, border defence friendship exchange with neighbouring countries, participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, and so forth.

Second, making the GPD Office pure, robust and representative, contributing to building a strong Military Party Committee in terms of politics, ideology and morality, leading and directing departments and units in the GPD and the whole military to successfully complete assigned tasks. It is necessary to focus on building pure, robust, representative party committees and cell, enabling them to truly become political nuclei and commensurate with the position, function and mission of a strategic advisory body. The GPD Office Party Committee spearheads in realising Resolution of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (tenure XII) on Party building, Directive 87-CT/QUTW of the Central Military Commission’s Standing Committee on stepping up studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style, and Directive 855-CT/QUTW, dated 12 August 2019, of the Central Military Commission’s Standing Committee on enhancing the implementation of the campaign of "promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho's Soldiers." The GPD also needs to strengthen the management and training of party members, deeply grasp their thought, social relations, compliance with military discipline, Party's rules, regulations of the Party Central Committee, particularly the Regulations on  prohibitions applied to party members, etc., while promoting inspection, supervision and selection of cadres and party members, resolutely removing the disqualified ones from Party's organisations to ensure that there are not any party members with degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" in the unit.

Third, building a comprehensively robust GPD Office, first and foremost in the realms of politics and ideology. This is a measure of significant importance, which is key to firmly preserving political orientation, enhancing reasoning thinking, and enabling the GPD to fulfill its functions and missions in the new situations. Party committees and commanders of departments and units must successfully lead, direct and monitor the development and implementation of plans, content, programmes of political, ideological education, and continue to innovate and improve the quality and effectiveness of studying, applying and developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's Thought in the new situation as provided in Directive 23-CT/TW, dated 9 February 2018, of the Party Central Committee Secretariat (tenure XII) while proactively struggling to denounce false standpoints and ideologies, generating high consensus in each department and unit, contributing to defending the Party's ideological basis and guidelines and the State's policies and law, and defeating plots of "peaceful evolution," "depoliticisation," and "civilianisation" of the military conducted by hostile forces, reactionaries and political opportunists.

The GPD is to consolidate its departments in an adept, lean and highly efficient direction in order to enhance their abilities to give strategic advice and instruct the Party work and political work. It also needs to implement and complete military training content and programmes for various learners, attach importance to equipping the leading cadres, command and staff officers and researchers with defence and security knowledge as well as military thinking at operational and strategic levels. The GPD should augment the control of their strength and discipline, promote good order and administrative reform, strictly maintain meeting, studying and working regimes, especially those relating to military personnel on duty, and renew working style in a unit-based, practical and effective direction. It is necessary to supplement and practise the transition of readiness levels and plans to respond to fires, explosion and natural disasters so as to ensure safety in departments and units in every aspect. Logistic, technical and financial work must be successfully carried out to meet the requirements of missions and improve officers and soldiers' lives. The GPD is to promote the compliance with principles, regimes and regulations on ensuring safety, practising thrift and countering wastefulness and wrongdoings, leverage all resources for political missions, and ensure the safety of lives and property in its working areas.

Fourth, concentrating on building the GPD Office's corps of cadres, particularly those at operational and strategic levels and in command of departments and units, capable of satisfying the demands of missions in the new situation. It is necessary to perceive and implement resolutions of the Party and CMC on building the corps of cadres, notably the Resolution 109-NQ/QUTW, dated 11 February 2019, of the CMC on "developing the VPA's corps of cadres, especially those at operational and strategic levels, capable of meeting the requirements of missions in the new situations" and focus on building the corps of cadres with sufficient quantity, appropriate composition, high quality, ability and working style on a par with demands of missions. Special attention must be paid to cultivating a corps of leading cadres, who possess political steadfastness, fine dignity, healthy lifestyle and working style, strictly observe the principle of democratic centralism, are competent to lead their units, are well qualified for being elected as members of party committees at their levels and higher echelons, and deserve to be key to uniting people to build comprehensively strong departments and units.

Fifth, continuing to innovate and enhance the quality of strategic prediction and advice on the Party work and political work. It is necessary to conduct practical summing-up, draw lessons and develop theory to direct practice, tap into achievements, and seriously absorb and address limitations to ensure that the strategic advisory function becomes increasingly effective. To increase the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of Party work and political work requires the GPD to continue to resolve some urgent issues, including continuing to perfect the Party's leadership mechanism over the VPA as provided in the Resolution 51-NQ/TW of the Politburo (tenure IX), heightening the proactiveness and keenness of ideological work to build a corps of highly qualified cadres, enhancing leadership capability and combat power of party organisations and cadres at all levels of the GPD, and so forth. In the short term, the GPD needs to concentrate on grasping directives and resolutions of the Politburo and CMC as well as regulations and instructions of the Party Central Committee, and take initiative in advising the CMC on leading and instructing the preparation and organisation of party congresses at all levels of the Military Party Committee, advancing towards the 13th National Party Congress.

Making the GPD comprehensively strong and deserve to be a strategic advisory body in terms of firmly upholding and strengthening the Party's absolute, direct leadership over the VPA in every aspect as well as improving the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of Party work and political work in the new era is a vital, basic, long-term issue that needs to be deeply perceived and dealt with by means of practical, effective measures so as to further heighten sense of responsibility for mission execution. Leveraging its glorious tradition over the past 75 years, the GPD Office's officers, staff and soldiers strive to cultivate and train themselves, and make the GPD Office's Party Committee pure and robust, and the GPD Office comprehensively strong, making worthy contribution to building a "revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and gradually modernised" People's Army and successfully accomplishing the construction and firm defence of the socialist Vietnamese Homeland in the new era.

General Luong Cuong, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission's Standing Committee, Chief of the General Political Department, Viet Nam People's Army.