On December 22^nd, 1944, the Vietnam Propaganda Liberation Army Team - the first active unit of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) was founded. Since its inception, the Team has been placed under the direct leadership of a party cell. According to late General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Party shall exercise leadership over the army and its political work, which is an intrinsic factor of a revolutionary army. After the success of the August Revolution, the armed forces developed rapidly; units at the platoon level and above were placed under the leadership of party organizations. In late 1946, the political office at the highest level of the Military was founded, and then the Party Cell of the Political Department was established. On July 11^th, 1950, President Ho Chi Minh signed the Decree 121/SL on founding the General Command of the Vietnam National Army and Militia Force, including the General Political Department (GPD), which marked a milestone in the development of the Military’s political office. At the same time, the Political Department’s Party Cell was developed into the GPD’s Party Organization under the General Military Party Commission (the present-day Central Military Commission).

In all revolutionary periods, the GPD’s Party Organization has played an important role in the Party’s leadership over the VPA, ensuring and enhancing the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the VPA. Since its inception, under the leadership of the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, and particularly the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the direction by the Ministry of National Defence (MND) and the GPD’s leaders, the GPD’s Party Organization has led the GPD to grasp and execute the guidelines, resolutions, and directives by the Party, CMC, and MND and successfully fulfil its function and assigned task, while keeping developing and deserving to be a typically pure, strong Party Organization within the Military’s Party Organization.

Over the years, the GPD’s Party Organization has taken specific, effective measures for making itself politically, ideologically, morally, and organizationally strong, its affiliated party organizations pure and strong, and offices and units comprehensively strong as well as leading the GPD to accomplish the work of advising the CMC and MND on major measures and strategies to build a politically strong VPA and enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the party and political work, thereby making contributions to maintaining and strengthening the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the VPA and the national defence cause. At the same time, it has introduced and strictly executed the Party’s resolutions, directives, regulations, and guidance on the Party building, particularly the Resolutions of the Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenums (11^th and 12^th tenure) on the Party building and rectification, the Politburo’s Directives 03-CT/TW and 05-CT/TW on studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle, and the Party Central Secretariat’s Regulation 08-QĐi/TW on cadres and party members’ role model-setting responsibility, while focusing on formulating action plans/programs and breakthrough measures for performing the central task and overcoming weaknesses. In the process, the GPD’s Party Committee has always closely combined the ideological work with the organizational work and the policy work, strictly maintained the principle of democratic centralism, built, supplemented, and opportunely completed the system of working regulations, particularly those in the central, sensitive fields. The order and regulations for party meetings have been maintained. Self-criticism and criticism have been promoted. The leadership method and style have been renewed creatively, scientifically in accordance with reality. The personnel work has been renewed to meet the requirements for building a contingent of cadres of the GPD with proper structure and high quality. The inspection and supervision work has been carried out in an orderly, effective fashion. Consideration has been given to educating, training, and developing party members. The work of internal political protection has been well conducted while a sense of unity has been ensured within each party committee and organization. As a result, cadres and party members within the GPD’s Party Organization always have political zeal, good qualities, and capability and well perform their vanguard, exemplary role in executing the Party’s resolutions and the GPD’s political task.

However, there have been weaknesses in the building of the GPD’s Party Organization. For example, the work of political and ideological education has yet to be convincing; some party committees’ leadership has yet to be comprehensive; several party committees have not opportunely settled their weaknesses after the review of their implementation of the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum in line with the Politburo’s Directive 05 and the CMC Standing Board’s Directive 87.

Lt. Gen. Le Hien Van presenting the GPD’s certificates of merit to the Party Organizations with outstanding achievements in 2018 (photo: qdnd.vn)

In the upcoming years, the situation in the world and the region will continue to be complex and unpredictable. In our country, the hostile forces will step up the “peaceful evolution” strategy and their artifices of “self-evolution,” “self-transformation,” and “depoliticization of our VPA.” The task of Military build-up and Homeland defence and the raised effectiveness of the party and political work will impose new demanding requirements on the GPD’s Party Organization. While studying, counselling, and directing the party and political work, the GPD will focus on executing the CMC’s Resolution 606-NQ/QUTW, dated June 6^th, 2018, on leadership over the restructuring of the VPA towards 2021 and the CMC’s Resolution 425-NQ/QUTW, dated May 18^th, 2017, on rearranging, renewing, and enhancing the effectiveness of military-run enterprises towards 2020 and beyond. In order to promote the GPD’s Party Organization’s role in leadership over the building of a strong GPD, it is necessary to well implement several measures as follows.

First, making the party committees and organizations within the GPD’s Party Organization politically, ideologically, organizationally and morally strong and capable of meeting the task requirements in the new period. This is a salient measure deciding the others for building the GPD’s Party Organization. Only when the party committees and organizations within the GPD’s Party Organization are made politically, ideologically, morally, and organizationally strong could they grasp and flexibly execute the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints against the situation’s complex developments as well as develop proper leadership measures and successfully fulfil the GPD’s function and task. To make the party committees and organizations politically strong, it is important to improve their steadfastness in Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the goal of national independence and socialism, the guidelines on national renewal, and the issues of principle in the Party building, to unceasingly enhance their leadership and capacity to make the Party’s resolutions relevant to the GPD’s task, and to develop the political zeal, capacity, and knowledge of the entire Party Organization, party members, and cadres, particularly the key ones at all levels. Besides, it is essential to base on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology to build strong party committees and organizations ideologically, to make party members and cadres imbued with the Party’s ideology, keep their absolute faith in the Party’s guidelines and the CMC’s leadership, and to protect the Party’s ideological foundation within the GPD’s Party Organization. With reference to the work of building organizationally strong party committees and organizations, due attention should be paid to making the system of offices and units from GPD to divisional level really compact and efficient and building a contingent of cadres and party members with sufficient qualities, political zeal, and capabilities to flexibly, creatively deal with the situations. Concerning the building of a morally strong Party, it is imperative to enhance cadres and party members’ revolutionary morality and make them devote themselves to the revolutionary cause, the Homeland, and the people as well as preserve their moral qualities and pure, healthy, simple lifestyle.

To that end, first of all, due regard should be paid to renewing the content, form, and method of the ideological work, ensuring that this work is always one step ahead, and remaining vigilant against the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and their plot to “depoliticize our VPA” so that there will be no violation of law and discipline within the GPD’s Party Organization. Moreover, it is important to continue adjusting the organizational structure, consolidating the system of offices, units, and grass-roots level party organizations, clearly identifying the function and task of each office, raising the party committees and cells’ leadership comprehensively, maintaining the principles of democratic centralism, collective leadership and individual accountability, and heightening a sense of criticism and unity. At the same time, greater importance should be attached to renewing the personnel work, including cadre recruitment, training, use, and rotation, resolutely fighting against negative practices, corruption, and signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” and building a contingent of cadres and party members with pure, noble morality and lifestyle.

Second, thoroughly grasping and stringently executing the Party’s guidelines, the military-defence task, and the party and political work in the new situation, comprehending the function and task, proactively studying, counselling, and effectively, opportunely directing the assigned tasks. The guidelines, resolutions, and tasks assigned by the Party and the Military to the GPD have imposed the more demanding requirements for maintaining and strengthening the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the VPA and for building a politically strong VPA. Thus, the party committees must grasp those documents and tasks and lead their offices to well conduct the work of strategic study, actively closely cooperate with the forces in grasping, anticipating, and correctly assessing the situation prior to new events and missions so as to advise the Party and the CMC on measures for the Party’s leadership over the VPA and the building of a politically strong VPA. Additionally, it is necessary to undertake researches and counsel the Party and the State to formulate the guidelines, mechanisms, policies, and laws relating to the military-defence work, to realize the military, national defence, and Homeland protection strategies, to raise the quality of directing, guiding, and inspecting the party and political work within the whole Military. The party committees and organizations must frequently grasp their offices and units’ function and task and flexibly, proactively, opportunely, completely handle the arising complex situations to avoid falling into passivity. At the same time, it is essential to stay close to military units’ training, combat readiness, production, and natural disaster prevention and control operations as the basis for counselling and strategically directing the party and political work effectively, correctly, opportunely in accordance with reality.

Third, strictly maintaining the regulations on the Party’s organization, meeting, and operation and renewing the party committees and organizations’ leadership style. The principles of democratic centralism, collective leadership, individual accountability, self-criticism, and criticism control all political, ideological, and organizational operations of the Party and decide the party committees and organizations’ leadership capacity, combativeness, and leadership quality. Disobedience to the Party’s principles of organization, leadership, and meeting will weaken party organizations and make it hard to promote the collective knowledge and the individual role as well as reduce the party committees and organizations’ quality of leadership. To well implement this measure, it is important to focus on the principle of democratic centralism, which is the most fundamental principle of organization within the Party, and make the Party strong and highly combative with a high degree of organization and the atmosphere of heightened democracy. The party committees and organizations within the GPD’s Party Organization must exercise the principle of collective leadership and individual accountability, frequently supplement, perfect, and stringently execute the working and leadership regulations. The party committees and organizations within the GPD should be fully aware of the principle of self-criticism and criticism and consider it as a law of development for the Party. To do so, it is necessary to expand democracy within the party committees and organizations, frequently provide sufficient, correct, timely information for cadres and party members, and combine the work of self-criticism and criticism with inspection, supervision, and disciplinary action. At the same time, it is important to allow cadres, party members, and the masses to give opinions and criticisms to the party committees and organizations. Besides, significance should be attached to renewing the leadership style of each party committee and its members as a determinant to raising the quality of cadres and the party committees and organizations’ leadership capacity and combativeness.

Fourth, focusing on building a contingent of cadres, particularly the campaign and strategic level cadres and the leaders and commanders of offices and units. Working in the offices in charge of counselling and strategically directing the party and political work, cadres of the GPD must have political zeal and steadfastness, flexible way of thinking, and capacity to study and counsel the party and political work on a par with the task requirements. To that end, the party committees and organizations must adhere to the Party’s guidelines on the personnel work, the development of their task, and the requirements for raising the quality and effectiveness of the party and political work in the performance of missions in order to promote a sense of responsibility for the personnel building. The party committees should grasp and stringently execute the CMC’s Resolution 109-NQ/QUTW, dated February 11^th, 2019, on building a contingent of military cadres, particularly at the campaign and strategic  levels to meet the task requirements in the new situations and the GPD Party Committee’s Resolution 79-NQ/ĐU, dated June 17^th, 2019, on building a contingent of cadres within the GPD, particularly the campaign and strategic level cadres and key cadres of its affiliated offices and units to meet the task requirements in the new period. It is imperative to follow the MND’s Circular 07/2019/TT-BQP, dated January 24^th, 2019, on the standards for cadres of the GPD and the CMC’s Regulation 366-QĐ/QUTW, dated April 12^th, 2018 on the rotation and deployment of cadres within the VPA. Grounded on those documents, the party committees and organizations should adopt synchronous measures for developing the plans for personnel selection training, assessment, use and rotation, strictly maintain the regulations and procedures for the personnel work, formulate and operate the plans for personnel quantity and training, and improve the research and staff capability of cadres, particularly those at the key offices of the Military.

Fifth, strengthening the Party’s inspection and supervision work, resolutely preventing and combating the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. Inspection and supervision must be centred on the political task, make contributions to the successful implementation of the political task, heighten combativeness, and clarify right and wrong. In the process, it is important to be fully aware that “supervision must be expanded while inspection must be focalized.” The all-level party committees and their inspection commissions must develop and closely follow the plans for inspection and supervision and attach significance to inspecting party organizations and members working in the central, sensitive fields and those with the signs of violation. At the same time, it is essential to focus on inspecting and supervising the leadership over the execution of the political task, the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum, the CMC Standing Board’s Directive 87, and the CMC’s Directive 855-CT/QUTW, dated August 12^th, 2019 on continuing to step up the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period. In addition, it is important to further inspect the observance of the Party’s Charter, the principle of democratic centralism, and the working and leadership regulations. Greater importance should be attached to inspecting and supervising the personnel work, the Regulation on party members’ don’ts, and the role model-setting responsibility of cadres and party members, particularly key cadres, commanders, and party committee heads. The inspection and supervision work must be carried out closely, objectively in accordance with the regulations and procedures, clearly show strong and weak points, and identify collective and individual responsibility. Moreover, due attention should be paid to conducting inspection and supervision to opportunely detect, prevent, and strictly settle violations of discipline and law, the degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” under the Party’s motto of justice, accuracy, and timeliness and the CMC Standing Board’s viewpoint of strictness, caution, closeness, objectivity, and fairness, without “restricted areas.” Doing so will make contributions to making the GPD’s Party Organization typically pure, strong, exemplary, and capable of playing a core role in leadership over the GPD - the Party’s staff and strategic office within the VPA.

Lt. Gen. Le Hien Van, Deputy Director of the VPA’S GPD

Secretary of the GPD’s Party Committee