The Political Academy is a leading centre of our Army and country that is assigned to train political cadres and undertake military social sciences and humanities researches. To fulfil its tasks, it has always focused on building a politically, morally, ideologically, and organizationally strong Party Organization.

In addition to training regimental and divisional political cadres and military lectures of social sciences and humanities, perfecting cadres’ advanced knowledge of political theory, and equipping cadres from the 2^nd group with defence and security knowledge, the Academy has also offered postgraduate courses. Up to now, the Academy has trained thousands of masters and doctors who have good moral and political qualities, comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the party and political work, and satisfactory commanding capacity. Many of them have become key cadres and illustrious scientists, taking on great responsibilities assigned by the Party, State and Army. The Academy has made outstanding contributions to the theoretical development of the party and political work, military social sciences and humanities, Vietnamese military art, thereby providing scientific grounds for the Central Military Commission and Ministry of National Defence to lead and direct the military-defence work, make the Vietnam People’s Army politically strong, and build the all-people national defence in the new situation.

The above-mentioned achievements result from a combination of leadership, direction and performance of their tasks by the Academy’s Party Committee and Directorate. However, the decisive factor is that the Academy has regularly concentrated on building a politically, morally, organisationally, ideologically strong Party Organization. Doing so has helped promote the Party Organization’s leading role in improving the quality of education, training, and scientific research as well as in building a comprehensively strong Academy. The overall objective of the Party building at the Academy is to increase the leadership and combat capacity of the Party Organization and turn Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology into a solid foundation for fostering the nature of the working-class and political willpower amongst cadres, lecturers, learners, defence labourers, and soldiers. Importance has been attached to raising staff members’ knowledge, practical capacity, worldview, methodology, and scientific working style. Consideration has been given to associating theory with practice and enhancing the ability to thoroughly grasp and concretize higher echelon’s resolutions and directives in accordance with the Academy’s education and training particularities. Emphasis has been placed on strictly abiding by the principle of democratic centralism, collective leadership, and individual accountability, self-criticism and criticism. Besides, the Academy has regularly added great weight to building and consolidating a contingent of cadres and lecturers both quantitatively and qualitatively. The system of regulations and statutes has always been supplemented and completed. The work of inspection and supervision has been emphasized. Relationships within the Academy have been well managed. A sense of solidarity and unity has been cemented. As a result, annually, the Academy’s Party Organization is always rated pure, strong, and capable of leading the Academy to become the Army and State’s centre for political cadres and high-quality human resources training and social sciences and humanities research.

Good party cell secretary contest held by the Academy in 2019

Currently, the situation in the world and the region has been witnessing rapid, complex developments. The 4^th Industrial Revolution and non-traditional security challenges are affecting every country. Our Army continues to be made revolutionary, regular, seasoned, and gradually modern, with a number of forces moving forward to modernity. The Army also continues to make itself political strong as the basis for enhancing its comprehensive quality and combat power so as to firmly protect the Fatherland in any situation. Therefore, in the coming time, more demanding requirements will be imposed on the tasks of education, training, scientific research, and the building of a comprehensively strong Academy. Meanwhile, a number of cadres and lecturers still have weaknesses in their qualifications, teaching skills, scientific research and practical experience. In order to well fulfil the tasks in the new situation, the Academy’s Party Committee has determined to continue making the Party Organization politically, morally, ideologically, organizationally strong and capable of playing a core role in leadership over all operations of the Academy. More specifically, the following solutions need to be well implemented.

First, strengthen the building of a politically strong Party Organization. The Academy’s Party Organization needs to thoroughly grasp, concretize and stringently realise resolutions by all-level party congresses and directives, resolutions, regulations and instructions by the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the Party Central Secretariat and the Central Military Commission on the Party building. In the Party building, steadfastness in Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the goal of national independence and socialism must be a matter of principle. The Party Organization and the whole Academy must maintain the political orientation in education, training, scientific research and the building of a comprehensively strong Academy, keep enhancing the quality of issuing and executing resolutions, and opportunely overcome weaknesses in building comprehensively strong organs and units. In addition, it is necessary to direct departments and faculties to further undertake researches into a number of issues relating to the Party building in the process of socialist-oriented market economy development and international integration as well as military and defence policies and the Fatherland Protection Strategy in the new situation in order to supplement and improve the Academy’s training contents and programs in accordance with the development of reality.

Second, concentrate on building an ideologically strong Party Organization. Party committees and commanders at all levels should actively reform the work of disseminating political theory and studying the Party’s resolutions. They should actively fight against the hostile forces’ strategy of “Peaceful Evolution” and the manifestations of “self-evolution”, “self-transformation”, and “depoliticization” of our Army so as to maintain the Party’s ideological foundation. Consideration should be given to constantly renovating the contents, forms and methods of carrying out the ideological work and further improving the orientation, persuasiveness and effectiveness of this work. Party committees and commands should always understand the aspirations of cadres, party members and non-party members to have opportune and effective solutions. Additionally, the work of educating and updating cadres and party members, especially all-level commanders and lecturers on political theory and new knowledge needs to be regularly and efficiently conducted. It is essential to promote theoretical research and review reality to give advice to the Party, State and Army on the guidelines and solutions for improving the quality of education, training, the Party building and defence-security work in the new situation. Besides, due regard should be paid to resolutely fighting to eliminate opportunism, individualism, distortions and wrong views.

Third, focus on building an organizationally strong Party Organization. Party committees and organizations at all levels should place emphasis on renewing their leadership method and working style and achieving a clear change in the leadership and working style of their cadres. Great value should be attached to promoting the leadership role of party organizations and the effectiveness of commanding systems, assigning tasks to party committee members, and identifying the role of key cadres. Moreover, attention needs to be paid to well implementing the regulations on functions, tasks, modes of operation, and routine activities of party organizations, especially in learner management divisions, upholding the spirit of self-criticism, criticism and strictly practising the principle of democratic centralism, collective leadership and personal accountability in the execution of resolutions. Importance should be attached to developing and perfecting the working and leadership regulations and the statutes in all pieces of work, especially in the crucial and sensitive ones. All-level party committees and organizations within the Academy’s Party Organization should value and enhance the effectiveness of inspection and supervision in order to detect and redress shortcomings and opportunely prevent negative practices. The building of party committee members should be combined with the consolidation of a contingent of key cadres at all levels to ensure that they will perform a core role in leading their units and set good examples in terms of responsibility, moral quality, lifestyle, discipline and task performance.

Fourth, build a morally strong Party Organization. The Academy’s Party Organization considers moral factor as an important part of the Party building work in order to make contributions to fighting and effectively preventing the manifestations of degradation in moral qualities and lifestyle of cadres, lecturers and learners. The entire Party Organization should thoroughly grasp and strictly perform the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification in association with the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on “Accelerating the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle”. Cadres and party members should intensify the exercise of “self-assessment, self-correction”, and self-improvement in morality and lifestyle, while heightening their responsibility in all pieces of work and fighting against individualism, irresponsibility, and insensitivity. Key cadres and party members in departments, faculties, and learner management divisions must truly set good examples in morality, lifestyle and the fight against bureaucracy, corruption, negative practices, and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within.

Fifth, build a pool of high-quality cadres, lecturers and scientists. To that end, the Academy’s Party Committee will actively execute the Thematic Resolution on “Building a contingent of cadres at Political Academy in the period of 2019-2025”. Furthermore, the Academy will standardize its cadres according to the Circular 11/2019/TT-BQP, dated January 24^th, 2019 by the Ministry of National Defence stipulating the “criteria for cadres’ positions at the Political Academy”. Due regard should be paid to strictly complying with the procedures, principles, regulations on cadre planning, training, cultivation, evaluation, mobilization and appointment. Job rotation should be actively implemented while cadres should be deployed to hold commanding positions at units across the Army so that they could become commanders at all levels in the future. At the same time, importance should be attached to conducting the votes of confidence for party committee members and commanders at all levels under the regulations. The Academy will also proactively improve its cadres and lecturers’ comprehensive knowledge, especially their command of foreign languages and information technology, while regularly ensuring sufficient policies for its staff members and their families. By doing so, the Academy’s contingent of cadres and lecturers will witness a quantitative and qualitative development. They will all become exemplary, “red and expert” educational managers and teachers and make significant contributions to building a politically, morally, ideologically, and organizationally strong Party Organization capable of leading the Academy to fulfil the tasks of education and training in the new period.

Maj. Gen. PHAM TIEN DUNG, Political Commissar of the Academy