On clearly perceiving the position and role of cadres and cadre work in realising resolutions of the Party and Central Military Commission (CMC) on the organisation of People’s Army in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond as well as the mission of building a modern, elite, regular, revolutionary Viet Nam Coast Guard (VCG), the VCG Party Committee and Command have been adopting measures to improve quality of cadres, regarding this as an urgent and vital task today.

The Resolution No. 05 of the Politburo (13th tenure) and Resolution No. 230 of the CMC on the organisation of Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA) in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond have specified guidelines and synchronous solutions, which aim to reorganise the VPA in an adept, compact, strong direction. The resolutions also demand increased quality of cadres, ensuring that the VPA possesses increasingly high overall quality and combat power and can fulfill the mission of safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation. On grasping these requirements, the VCG Party Committee has issued Resolution No. 594-NQ/DU and the VCG Command has formulated Plan No. 7118/KH-BTL, dated 25 July 2022, on organising VCG in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond. The Resolution stipulates that leadership for the increased quality of cadres is one of the disruptive breakthroughs, ensuring that VCG becomes adept, compact, strong, modern, and capable of playing the core role in defending sovereign security and executing law enforcement at sea, contributing to firm protection of sovereignty over waters and islands. The Resolution is to be carried out through the following solutions.

First, the Party’s guidelines and principles on cadre work and building the corps of cadres are to be grasped and implemented seriously. This is both an orientation and a fundamental solution, which aims to concretise, standardise, and tighten discipline and regulations on cadre work and building the corps of cadres. Thus, party committees, party organisations, commanders, and commissars need to comprehend that cadres are key to success and failure of the revolution and an important element of Party building. All issues relating to cadre work and management of cadres are under the authority of party committees and organisations and implemented according to the principle of democratic centralism. The training and use of cadres must ensure inheritance and development; base on requirements, functions, and mission of the Coast Guard; make breakthroughs in promoting comprehensive quality of this crucial work. During the implementation process, party committees and organisations need to grasp and successfully realise guidelines and principles specified in Resolution No. 05 of the Politburo and Resolution No. 230 of the CMC; strengthen leadership of the implementation of regulations and procedures on cadre work; closely combine ideological work and organisational work with policies; promote education and propagation with a view to creating consensus and high political determination. They are to concentrate on building a corps of cadres with proper quantity and structure. Cadres must have political steadfastness, fine dignity, pure lifestyle, creative thinking, good leadership, professional skills, prestige in the organisation, proper health condition and age, and so on.

Second, regular attention is paid to training and enhancement of cadres’ revolutionary morality. This solution is of significant importance because cadres are the root of all work. Additionally, training of revolutionary morality makes good cadres. Therefore, the VCG Party Committee and Command request their departments and units to further carry out synchronous solutions, which aim to realise the Resolution of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (13th tenure) on strengthening Party building and rectification and the political system; prevent and push back deterioration in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party in connection with strictly implementing Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW, dated 18 May 2021, of the Politburo (13th tenure) on further studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style; Resolution No. 847-NQ/QUTW, dated 28/12/2021, of the CMC on promoting dignity of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and resolutely combating individualism in the new situation; the campaign of promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new era; regulations on setting example, especially the leading cadres at all levels. The implementation of these solutions serves to build a corps of cadres, especially the leading ones at all levels, who are true pioneers in personality and lifestyle; show great diligence, thrift, integrity, uprightness, public-mindedness, and selflessness; are honest, simple, straightforward, and sincere; refrain from corruption, wastefulness, and wrongdoings; are not influenced by interest groups; do not allow their family members and relatives to take advantage of their positions to serve personal interests; dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, dare to say, dare to make a breakthrough, and dare to confront difficulties and challenges; have realistic, democratic, scientific working style.

Third, cadres are built in the direction of meeting long-term, basic requirements and missions and development. The VCG Party Committee directs its party committees and organisations to well carry out the planning and use of cadres. In this process, they must strictly implement Resolution No. 109-NQ/QUTW, dated 11 February 2019 of the CMC on building the corps of cadres, especially those at strategic and operational levels, on a par with mission requirements in the new situation and the Project on building the VCG in the 2021 – 2025 period. To achieve the desired effect, party committees and organisations at all levels need to combine many ways of assessing cadres, ensuring impartiality, objectiveness, democracy, and the developmental, concrete, historical, comprehensive viewpoint, of which task fulfilment must be the key criterion to appraise cadres. Results of assessment serve as bases for reaching conclusions on task performance, competence, and prospect of development of each cadre, laying the foundation for appointing and training cadres, especially in the fight against crimes during patrol, protection of sovereign security, and law enforcement at sea. It is necessary to closely combine the planning, training, appointment, and use of competent cadres with resolutely removing the corrupt, incompetent cadres from leadership, command, and management positions. When appointing and using cadres, special importance must be attached to evaluation of cadres’ morality, lifestyle, and relations, particularly the spirit to struggle against manifestations of wrongdoings, bureaucracy, corruption, and wastefulness. The appointment and use of cadres must also base on mission requirements, comply with the guideline of “selecting men for the sake of work” instead of “arranging work for the sake of men,” ensure that cadres of the VCG have a firm, continuous transition from one generation to another; are truly adept, compact, and strong; work efficiently and effectively.

Fourth, rotation of cadres is to be enhanced, which aims to train and challenge cadres in practical working environment. The VCG Party Committee requests its party committees and organisation to grasp and strictly carry out Regulation No. 1663-QD/QUTW, dated 21 December 2022, of the CMC on the rotation of cadres in the Vietnam People’s Army; stick to the principle of democratic centralism; bring into play responsibility of party committees, commissars, and commanders at all levels; ensure connection among levels, departments, and units in the entire force. Each department and unit have to closely combine rotation with planning and training of cadres; comply with regulations on criteria for rotational cadres; properly handle the issue of rotation of cadres for training and use of available cadres, ensuring that it both meets the immediate demand and prepares the long-term human resource. Political departments at all levels work with relevant agencies to successfully fulfil their advisory role, ensuring closeness, democracy, objectiveness, transparency, and equality without wrongdoings in cadre work.

Fifth, increase inspection and supervision. The Command Party Committee and party committees at all levels, especially the secretaries and commanders of departments and units, promote leadership and comprehensive supervision of cadre work with a focus on training, assessment, planning, and appointment of cadres as well as cadres’ and party members’ training process in terms of morality and lifestyle. They are to actively renew methodologies and ways of inspection and supervision aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these tasks; resolutely omit those who are unqualified and have signs of political opportunism, ambition for power, and deterioration in morality from the planning of cadres, especially the strategic and operational ones. There is a need to timely detect and strictly punish cadres with violations, improper motives, factionalism, group interests, etc., thereby tightening discipline in cadre work, making fundamental changes in task performance, and strengthening morality, culture, and professionalism of the VCG’s cadres.

Increased quality of building the corps of cadres according to the spirit of the CMC’s Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW is both an urgent and long-term political mission, which requires the Command Party Committee, party committees, and commanders at all levels to exercise patience, caution, and democracy; bring into play activeness, proactiveness, and creativeness in implementation with a view to building an adept, compact, strong corps of cadres for the VCG, who are capable of satisfying mission requirements in the new situation.

Lieutenant General BUI QUOC OAI, Commissar of the Vietnam Coast Guard Command