Over the past years, the Party Committee of Military Region 1 has introduced many policies and solutions to lead its armed forces to well perform all aspects of the local military and defence work with many tasks accomplished excellently. Those achievements owe to the fact that the Military Region’s Party Committee has always thoroughly grasped and strictly implemented resolutions and directives on Party building, especially the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the 12^th Central Party Committee (hereafter the Resolution 4), considering the task of building a strong politically, ideologically, organizationally and ethically party committee as the key point.

Immediately after the 12^th Party Central Committee promulgated the Resolution 4 on the Party building and rectification, the Military Region 1’s Party Committee has opportunely grasped and formulated action programs and plans with focalized and comprehensive content and solutions including the breakthroughs in overcoming limitations and drawbacks. This has brought about the improvement in the leadership capacity and fighting power of party committees and organizations, in the effectiveness and efficiency of party and political work, in the role and responsibility of the contingent of key cadres, and in the quality of the contingent of cadres and party members of the Military Region. There have been no manifestations of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Military Region’s Party Committee. The solidarity between the army and the people has been strengthened. Specifically, the Military Region has earned the love, protection, and absolute trust of party committees, authorities, and people in the locality.

However, the capability of grasping and concretizing higher echelon’s resolutions and directives and the implementation process by a number of party executive committees and commanders, especially of party secretaries have not satisfied the requirements of the Resolution 4. The quality of the working aspects, such as: political and ideological education, inspection, supervision, staff work and so forth at some party executive committees and party organizations has not been high enough. The sense of law and discipline voluntary observance and the pioneering and exemplary role of a small number of cadres and party members, including some key cadres here and there at times have exposed limitations. To overcome those problems and make the Party building and rectification within the Military Region 1’s Party Committee meet the Resolution’s requirements, the following solutions should be synchronously carried out.

First, thoroughly grasping and strictly executing the resolutions, directives, and instructions by higher echelons and units on the work of building and rectifying the Party. The party executive committees, political commissars, and commanders at all levels should regularly review and formulate programs and plans in line with their unit’s functions, tasks, and particularities. In particular, due attention has to be paid to improving the effectiveness of political theory education, providing troops with information and orientating their ideology, actively preventing and fighting against hostile forces’ conspiracies and plots of “peaceful evolution” and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, and maintaining the Party’s ideological ground in the Military Region’s armed forces. At the same time, it is necessary to supplement the groups of solutions with specific measures close to the unit’s particularities to implement the Resolution 4 in association with the 12^th Politburo’s Directive No. 05-CT/TW, the Directive No.87-CT/QUTW of the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission on accelerating the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and lifestyle, the Campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, and the 9^th Politburo’s Resolution No. 51-NQ/TW. Additionally, the work of inspecting, supervising, managing, and educating party members, especially in terms of morality and lifestyle needs to be enhanced. The exemplary role and responsibility of the contingent of cadres, first of foremost the key ones at all levels should be brought into full play. In parallel with this, the Military Region needs to well carry out the project “Renovating the work of political education at military units in the new period” with the focus on “renewing robustly, comprehensively, and sustainably” the content, methods, forms of propagation and education. It is also required to combine political education with law propagation, dissemination and education and increase meetings and dialogues to understand and opportunely realise soldiers’ aspirations, and create solidarity and unity in the task performance in each agency and unit.

Second, making a breakthrough in enhancing grassroots party executive committees’ comprehensive leadership capacity and fighting power. To this end, the Military Region’s Party committees should thoroughly understand and strictly abide by higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on the Party building with the emphasis on the Resolution of the 14^th Military Region Party Congress (2015-2020 tenure), the Resolution 345-NQ/ĐU of the Military Region’s Party Committee on “Enhancing the leadership capacity and fighting power of grassroots party organizations and the quality of the contingent of cadres and party members”, the Directive 1535-CT/ĐU of the Military Region’s Party Executive Committee on “Building 4-good and 3-no party cells within the Military Region’s Party Committee and armed forces”. The party committee consolidation must be in line with the principles, regulations, instructions and units’ task requirements to ensure the quality and appropriate structure and quantity, maintain and promote the nuclear role and capacity to concretize the resolution in the implementation, especially the observance of higher echelons’ and unit’s resolutions. At the same time, due regard should be paid to strictly maintaining regularity, working regime; reviewing, formulating, supplementing, perfecting and effectively implementing working and leadership regulations in all aspects, especially in the critical ones; strictly executing the 12^th Politburo’s Resolution No. 51-NQ/TW, enhancing the leadership capacity and fighting power of party committees and organizations and the efficiency of party and political work in the task performance; and strengthening the higher echelons’ inspection and supervision in various aspects. In the process of implementation, the contingent of party committee members and key cadres ought to well practise self-criticism and criticism and “self-examination, self-correction”, actively overcome difficulties, and match their words with their actions.

Third, raising the quality of the work of party member education, management, and training. In fact, the negative impacts of social life and the aggressive attack of hostile forces have made a number of cadres and party members expose their manifestations of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle, and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. Therefore, in addition to improving the quality of political and ideological education, all-level party committees also need to effectively manage and train their cadres and party members at their levels. Accordingly, consideration should be given to regularly reviewing and supplementing the criteria for cadres and party members’ self-improvement in the annual commitment. On a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis, the party committees at all levels shall carry out proper inspection, supervision and evaluation, helping cadres and party members determine measures to overcome their limitations and shortcomings. In the meantime, due regard should be paid to strictly managing cadres and party members in terms of politics, ideology, morality, lifestyle and social relations in line with the Regulation 76-QĐ/TW on the management of party members in the residential area and the Regulations 47-QĐ/TW on party members’ don’ts and well performing the work of protecting internal politics and maintaining stability, ensuring that 100% of the party committees and members are politically pure. The fostered and raised awareness for cadres and party members must be always attached to their responsibilities, tasks, and authorities, especially key cadres and party committee members. It is also necessary to opportunely detect and rectify wrong and oversimplified perceptions in the implementation of the Party’s leadership principles. The Military Region’s Party Executive Committee requires the contingent of party committee secretaries (deputy secretaries) to renew the leadership style and method, strictly implement the Party Central Committee’s Decision 08-QĐ/TW and the Central Military Commission’s Regulation 646-QĐ/QUTW on the exemplary role of cadres and party members; well prepare draft resolutions and promote democracy to formulate “proper and sound” leadership resolutions. When reaching approved resolutions, the party committees shall assign tasks to each party committee member in accordance with their responsibilities with the respect for individual responsibility and creativity, ensuring the effectiveness of resolution implementation. Besides, every party member is required to strictly execute the resolutions and avoid saying or doing anything contrary to those ones.

Fourth, well carrying out the personnel work. This is the “key phase of the key” in building the Party. Therefore, the Military Region’s Party Executive Committee directs the party committees and organizations to thoroughly grasp and well implement the Central Military Commission’s Resolution No. 769-NQ/QUTW on “Building up a contingent of military cadres in the 2013-2020 period and beyond” and focus on building a contingent of cadres with appropriate quantity and structure, high political quality, good morals, comprehensive working style and capacity, and proper health and age. The Military Region’s cadres and party members, first of foremost key cadres at all levels, must meet the requirements as follows: having steadfast political will; showing absolute loyalty to the Fatherland, Party and people; having the capacity of political theory and general knowledge, especially military and national defence knowledge; having good moral qualities and democratic style; respecting collectives and subordinates; adopting healthy and simple lifestyle; having the capabilities in command, staff and operations as well as in developing a contingent of cadres comprehensively; actively and sensibly detecting and fighting against hostile forces’ conspiracies and plots of “peaceful evolution” and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. Along with selecting and dispatching cadres to study at schools inside and outside the Army, the on-the-spot training courses for cadres should be promoted. At the same time, significance needs to be attached to actively carrying out the work of personnel planning, ensuring sustainable inheritance and development; closely conducting cadre evaluation, assessment, arrangement and use; combining the building of cadres with that of party members and the building of key cadres with that of party executive committees.

Fifth, strengthening the inspection and supervision. The implementation process must comply with the guideline: “Supervision must be extended while inspection must be focalized”. The inspection and supervision of inferior party organizations must be attached to those of party committee members and key cadres. The party committees have to resolutely fight against cadres and party members’ negative manifestations, violations of the party’s principles of organization and meeting, and degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle. Simultaneously, it is necessary to actively develop plans and programs to well implement the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Secretariat’s Regulation 109-QĐ/TW on party organizations’ work of inspecting cadres and party members’ self-improvement in ethics and lifestyle and the 12^th Politburo’s Regulations 102-QĐ/TW on taking disciplinary action against party members for violating Party’s discipline.

In order to well implement the above-mentioned points, the party committees and organizations are required to raise their responsibilities, identify key and focal issues, and continue to put the Party building and rectification in order. These efforts will contribute to making the Military Region’s Party Committee always strong politically, ideologically, organizationally and morally and leading the Military Region’s armed forces to successfully accomplish military and defence missions in the locality.

Maj. Gen. Duong Dinh Thong, Political Commissar of the Military Region