The “posture of people’s hearts and minds” acts as the foundation of the all-people national defence. As Military Region 9 holds a position of strategic importance to the country’s politics, economy, national defence, national security, and diplomacy, the building of a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” within itself has become a matter of both importance and urgency.

Our national history has proved that when “the people’s hearts and minds” are stabilised, the country will be powerful or vice versa. This is one of the most vital lessons in thousands of years of our country’s history of national construction and protection. Thus, the building of a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” has always been consistently affirmed in our Party’s military-defence guidelines and policies. That has also been grasped and uniformly stipulated in the Vietnam National Defence Strategy in the new period and in documents of the National Party Congresses since the 10th one. Being fully aware of this, over the years, provincial-level party organisations and authorities, armed forces, and citizens of Military Region 9 have focused on building an increasingly firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” thereby raising a sense of political responsibility of cadres, party members, the armed forces, and all people for national construction and protection, cementing their faith in the Party’s revolutionary cause and our country’s path towards socialism.

In the process, the Military Region’s armed forces have actively taken part in building all-level party committees and authorities, helping the people with socio-economic development, new-style countryside construction, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control as well as maintaining political security and social order and safety as the basis for localities’ development. It is worth noting that cadres and soldiers of the Military Region have shown no fear of difficulty or hardship to both maintain combat readiness and actively participate in COVID-19 prevention and control. Along the land border and at sea, the Border Guard Force has organised hundreds of checkpoints to prevent illegal immigration and the spread of the pandemic. Meanwhile, all-level military agencies have closely cooperated with localities in organising inland checkpoints and hundreds of quarantine zones and COVID-19 treatment field hospitals. They have collaborated with competent forces in receiving and testing citizens for SARS-CoV-2 from pandemic-hit regions to local quarantine zones. With their sentiment and responsibility, they have encouraged organisations and individuals to donate billions of VND to hold “zero dong markets,” provide supplies for the people in difficulty, and assist peasants in harvesting crops. Doing so has contributed to cementing the people’s faith in the Military Region’s armed forces, the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), the Party, the State, and the socialist regime, encouraging the strength of the national great unity block, and building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.”  

However, in addition to advantages, the Military Region is also faced with a lot of difficulties. Within the region, 10% of its population is ethnic minority people (mainly the Khmer people) and there are many religious communities, thereby forming a rich diversity of culture, customs, and tradition and greatly impacting on the work of propagation, education, and ideological orientation. In spite of authorities’ efforts, infrastructures and the people’s intellectual standards and material and mental life, particularly in remote, isolated, border, sea, and island areas have yet to meet the region’s development needs. Meanwhile, hostile forces both at home and abroad, such as Khmer Serei Organisation, Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF), Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community, and Vietnam Reform Party, aka Viet Tan, are devoting effort to sabotaging our Party and State. They always take advantage of issues concerning democracy, human rights, ethnicity, and religion to incite demonstrations and undermine the national great unity block.

Cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces of An Giang helping the people to harvest crops (photo: danvan.vn)

Hence, in order to consolidate the “posture of people’s hearts and minds” within the posture of all-people national defence in the upcoming time, it is necessary to well implement several basic measures as follows.

First, enhance the work of propagation and education to raise citizens’ awareness of the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and the Homeland construction and protection. Local party committees and authorities and the Military Region’s armed forces shall frequently grasp the situation and the task of building defensive zones’ politico-spiritual potential to design measures of propagation and education in accordance with each group of people. In the process, great value should be attached to renewing contents, forms, and methods of propagation and education to arouse patriotism, national self-reliance, the strength of the national great unity block, and aspirations for building a prosperous, happy nation. Besides, it is essential to promote the armed forces’ core role in defence and security propagation and education. More importantly, Military Region 9’s Military School shall raise the quality of defence and security education for cadres of the 2nd group and students and enhance the fight against the hostile forces’ wrong viewpoints and “peaceful evolution” strategy to defend the Party’s ideological foundation.

Second, raise the quality and efficiency of the political system and step up the Party building and rectification as well as the building of a socialist rule-of-law State and a strong, pure, compact, effective, efficient political system. To that end, it is vital to maintain and strengthen the Party’s leadership over all activities. Significance should be attached to renewing the organisation and operation of Fatherland Fronts, politico-social organisations, and mass organisations to bring into play the people’s right to mastery. It is important to strictly maintain the Regulations on Democracy at Grass-Roots Level to achieve a consensus amongst the people about the guidelines and policies of the Party, the State, and local authorities. Cadres and party members shall conform to the regulations on setting good examples and the Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18th, 2021 on continue studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, while actively fighting against the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Due attention should be paid to enhancing self-criticism and criticism, promoting democracy, maintaining discipline, and encouraging transparency in management and use of land, natural resource exploitation, capital construction, and public procurement. Besides, it is vital to opportunely, stringently, completely handle corruption cases to consolidate the people’s faith in the Party, the State, and the socialist regime.

Third, facilitate economic development and improve the people’s material and mental life via specific, practical policies. All-level party committees and authorities shall concretise higher echelons’ policies to mobilise all resources for economic development and enable the people to access finance and apply science and technology advances to production and business as the basis for creating employments, improving the people’s living standards, narrowing the gap between rich and poor, and ensuring social progress and equality, particularly in the remote, isolated, border, sea, and island areas. Military offices at all levels shall proactively advise local party committees and authorities on appraising socio-economic development programmes and projects relating to the building of defensive zones’ military posture. Special importance should be attached to foreign-invested projects in the border, coastal, sea, island areas and combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation.

Fourth, promote the armed forces’ role in mass mobilisation. To do so, the Military Region’s armed forces shall keep grasping and well implementing resolutions and directives by the Party, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence on mass mobilisation, ethnicity, and religion, particularly the Central Military Commission’s Directive 1006-CT/QUTW, dated September 27th, 2019 on continuing to renew and enhance leadership and direction over the VPA’s religious work in the new situation and the Central Military Commission’s Directive 168-CT/QUTW, dated February, 2020 on the VPA’s mass mobilisation work in key areas in the new situation. At the same time, due regard should be paid to grasping the people’s thoughts and legitimate aspirations to identify measures of mass mobilisation properly. The Military Region’s armed forces shall actively participate in national target programmes on sustainable poverty reduction and the building of new-style countryside and civilised urban areas, while effectively executing models of “clever mass mobilisation” and movements of “remembering the source when drinking water” and “paying debt of gratitude.” They shall maintain readiness for search and rescue operations as well as natural disaster, fire, and epidemic prevention and control. In addition, they shall cooperate with local party committees and authorities in settling complex incidents to make contributions to ensuring political security and social order and safety.

Fifth, make the Military Region’s armed forces comprehensively strong as a reliable army of local party committees, authorities, and citizens. To that end, the Military Region will continue building a “revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern” standing force, a powerful reserve force, and a “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence force. Besides, it is necessary to raise the political quality of those forces and build comprehensively strong offices and units as a central routine task. Emphasis should be placed on boosting the quality of training and exercises and enhancing the armed forces’ coordination with other forces in dealing with situations relating to national defence and security to avoid falling into passivity.

To build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” it is vital to cement the people’s faith in the Party, the State, and the national renewal cause for the sake of “wealthy people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation.” Last but not least, due attention should be paid to arousing patriotism, self-reliance, the strength of the national great unity block, and the aspirations for building a prosperous, happy country.

Sr. Col. PHAM THANH BINH, MA

Rector of Military Region 9’s Military School