After more than one year in effect, the amended Law on Militia and Self-Defence Force (2019) has been proving positive changes in the building and operation of the Militia and Self-Defence Force (MSF). To quickly translate the Law into life, authorities, sectors, and localities, especially the armed forces shall keep propagating and disseminating this Law to the entire Military and people.

The amended Law on MSF (2019) took effect during the complex developments of COVID-19; therefore, the work of propagating and disseminating the Law was very difficult as activities with the participation of a lot of people and particularly training courses couldn’t be organised under regulations on pandemic prevention and control. Being fully aware of the situation, authorities, sectors, and localities have heightened a sense of responsibility, proactively overcome difficulties, and drastically, creatively, flexibly, synchronously implemented measures to propagate and disseminate the Law, and especially organise contests of knowledge of the Law on MSF at district, provincial, and military region levels in accordance with each unit’s practical condition.

Head of the Militia and Self-Defence Department addressing the Contest of Knowledge of the Law on MSF at Military Region 4

As a result, the awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, and citizens for the militia and self-defence work have been considerably raised. Due attention has been paid to seriously, closely, openly, democratically managing and recruiting members of the MSF, and staffing this force’s units under the motto: “the people know, the people discuss, and the people appoint.” The MSF’s synergy and combat readiness capacity have also been improved. The MSF at localities and grass-roots level has been made strong, extensive, and capable of playing a core role in performing the military, defence, security task, particularly in natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, search and rescue, and socio-economic development, thereby deserving to be a loyal, reliable political force for maintaining political security and social order and safety, making contributions to firmly protecting national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity as well as defending the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime.

However, in addition to those good results, the work of propagating and disseminating the Law has still exposed several weaknesses that have negatively impacted on the MSF’s synergy and combat readiness capacity. To deal with those shortcomings, quickly translate the Law into life, raise the effectiveness of law enforcement, and build a strong, extensive MSF as the basis for making the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security increasingly solid for the Homeland construction and protection in the new situation, authorities, sectors, and localities, particularly the armed forces shall well implement a number of tasks and measures as follows.

First, continue grasping and seriously executing higher echelons’ directives and guiding documents on propagating and disseminating the Law on MSF. Offices, units, and localities shall keep grasping and realising directives, plans, and guiding documents by the Government and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on propagating and disseminating the Law on MSF in order to raise the awareness and responsibility of all people, especially officials at all levels. Grounded on the Prime Minister’s Decision 1811/QĐ-TTg, dated December 16th, 2019 on enforcing the Law on MSF, the Prime Minister’s Decision 140/QĐ-TTg, dated January 20th, 2020 and the Defence Minister’s Decision 704/QĐ-BQP, dated March 4th, 2020 on realising the Project to propagate, disseminate, and study the Law on MSF, military regions, local party committees and authorities, and heads of offices, units, and businesses shall develop their programmes and especially action plans for propagating, disseminating, and researching the Law on MSF relevant to each locality and enterprise’s particularities in a close, scientific, focalised manner. To that end, it is necessary to promote the role of cadres at all levels, especially heads of local party committees and authorities, offices, and units in monitoring, directing, and assisting the implementation of the formulated programmes and plans. Moreover, it is important to both disseminate the Law on MSF and implement the Party’s resolutions and directives, such as the 11th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.8 on the Strategy to Defend the Homeland in the New Situation, the Conclusion 41-KL/TW of the 10th Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, dated March 31st, 2009 on continuing to execute the Directive 16-CT/TW of the 9th Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on enhancing the Party’s leadership over the MSF and the reserve force in the new situation.

Second, promote the role of local offices, committees, sectors, and unions, particularly the armed forces in developing projects and plans. As the core force in performing the militia and self-defence work at localities, all-level military agencies shall closely cooperate with local departments, committees, sectors, and unions in formulating projects, programmes, and plans to concretise the contents of the Law. Military regions shall keep directing Provincial-Level Military Commands (PMC) to closely collaborate with relevant offices in advising provincial-level party committees, people’s councils, people’s committees, and Fatherland fronts on continuing developing projects, programmes, and plans to propagate and disseminate the Law on MSF properly to create a solid legal corridor for the implementation of this Law. Besides, PMCs shall devise plans on organising refresher courses, particularly for key cadres from Central to local levels and for all-level military agencies. Grounded on PMCs’ courses, provincial-level committees, departments, and sectors, and district-level people’s committees will propagate and disseminate the fundamentals of the Law to their affiliates. Emphasis should be placed on clarifying new points of the 2019 Law on MSF, the Government’s decrees, and the MND’s circulars as well as responsibilities of organisations and individuals for the building of the MSF within sectors, localities, offices, and units. In the process, significance should be attached to ensuring facilities and training documents and assigning specific tasks to offices and units.

In addition to propagating and disseminating the Law on MSF, PMCs shall continue advising provincial-level people’s committees to design and execute the project on the organisation, training, and operation of the MSF, and ensuring entitlements and policies for this force in the period of 2021-2025 as well as to seriously realise the Defence Minister’s Decision 2830/QĐ-BQP, dated September 12th, 2020 on issuing plans to build militia and self-defence model units. To raise the quality of training the MSF to meet the task requirements in the new situation, military regions shall direct PMCs to adjust training programmes and contents under the MND’s Circular 69/2020/TT-BQP, dated June 15th, 2020 stipulating several articles of the Law on MSF concerning training courses and contests for the MSF in accordance with characteristics of localities and units as well as COVID-19 prevention and control. Due regard should be paid to adhering to the Defence Minister’s Directive 100/CT-BQP, dated August 7th, 2021 on training, combat readiness, education, military standard order building, and discipline management during COVID-19 prevention and control and the regulations on the MSF’s coordination with other forces under the Government’s Decree 02/2020/NĐ-CP, dated June 30th, 2020.

Third, diversify forms of propagation and dissemination. Amidst the complex developments of COVID-19, authorities, sectors, localities, offices, and units shall flexibly, creatively propagate and disseminate the Law in accordance with each locality’s particularities and pandemic combat mission. Military regions shall closely cooperate with central press agencies in diversifying forms of propagating and disseminating the Law, while directing their newspapers to work with provincial-level newspapers, radio - television stations, and web portals in launching specialised pages and columns and increasing broadcasts of the Law, particularly in the remote, isolated, border, sea, island areas and the areas mainly inhabited by ethnic minority groups so as to raise the responsibility of the entire political system and people for the militia and self-defence work. Additionally, all-level military offices shall closely collaborate with local departments, committees, sectors, and unions in employing social networks to upload the basic contents of the Law. The work of propagating and disseminating the Law should be included in political education and the introduction of the Party’s guidelines, resolutions, and directives. Besides, the Law could be directly disseminated to the MSF during its performance of COVID-19 prevention and control mission, while pieces of news and articles about the MSF’s activities should be posted on social networks.

Fourth, make preparations and successfully organise the Contest of Knowledge of the Law on MSF at Military Region 9 and Hanoi Capital Military Command, and MND level. Grounded on lessons drawn from the Contest of Knowledge of the Law on MSF held at Military Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, competent offices and units of the MND shall carefully prepare weapons, equipment, facilities, documents, and places for the Contest, while identifying the method of organising the Contest in accordance with pandemic prevention and control. More specifically, it is necessary to organise many contest rooms and shifts for forces taking part in the Contest with a proper number of contestants. At the same time, great value should be attached to developing programmes, plans, and regulations on ensuring facilities for the Contest at MND level. To do so, military regions, Hanoi Capital Military Command, and heads of offices and units shall take localities and units’ tasks and COVID-19 developments into consideration to effectively hold the Contest in order to both facilitate pandemic prevention and control and quickly translate the 2019 Law on MSF into life. 

Maj. Gen. PHAM QUANG NGAN, Head of the Militia and Self-Defence Department