Ensuring election discipline within the Party

(Baonghean) - On June 9, 2014, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee, signed Decision No. 244-QD/TU on promulgating the Party Election Regulations. Compared to the Party Election Regulations promulgated by the Politburo in 2000 (VIII term) and in 2009 (X term), this regulation has many new points that are of great interest to cadres and Party members.

The previous Party election regulations were issued by the Politburo, and the scope of regulation was from the Party cell to the Party committees directly under the Central Committee, but this time the regulations unified the election from the Party cell to the Party Central Committee. When the Party organization introduced Party members to run for leadership positions of the State, the Fatherland Front and mass organizations, this regulation was also implemented. Thus, the authority to issue and the scope of regulation of the new regulations are higher and broader than the previous regulations.

Article 13 (new addition) of the regulations stipulates: when electing the new executive committee and standing committee (at the National Party Congress, the Central Executive Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat are elected), the Party Committee members at the level convening the congress are not allowed to nominate people outside the list nominated by the Party Committee; are not allowed to run for election or accept nominations if their names are not on the nomination list of the Party Committee. At the meetings of the Executive Committee, the Standing Committee members are not allowed to nominate personnel outside the list nominated by the Standing Committee of the Party Committee; are not allowed to run for election or accept nominations if their names are not on the nomination list of the Standing Committee.

At the meetings of the Central Executive Committee, Politburo members and Secretariat members are not allowed to nominate personnel outside the list nominated by the Politburo; they are not allowed to run for election or receive nominations if their names are not on the Politburo's nomination list.

There are concerns that the above regulations on candidacy and nomination limit democracy in the Party. Promoting democracy first of all means promoting the sense of responsibility of each Party Committee member in the process of preparing content and personnel for the Party Congress. In the process of preparing personnel, the Party Committee at the level convening the Congress carries out the process of introducing cadres from the bottom up, promoting the broadest democracy. On that basis, the new Party Committee will discuss and vote to introduce incumbent Party Committee members to continue to be re-elected and new members to join the Party Committee for the next term. According to the regulations, only those who are recommended by more than 50% of incumbent Party Committee members will be included in the list for the Party Committee to nominate to the Congress. When the Party Committee members at the level convening the Congress have fulfilled their responsibilities and participated in the Party Committee's decisions, they must not speak or do anything different from the Party Committee's decisions when attending the Congress. Thus, the new regulations have promoted democracy on the basis of high centralization, and the election process will ensure better quality.

According to the provisions of Article 16 (new addition) of the regulations, the list of candidates prepared by the Party Committee convening the congress is the official nomination list for the congress. This is a very important new point compared to previous regulations. The Party election regulations issued by the Politburo (VIII tenure) in 2000 stipulate: When the congress requests, the Presidium shall announce the list of personnel prepared by the Party Committee for the congress to refer to. The Party election regulations issued by the Politburo (X tenure) in 2009 stipulate: Before the congress finalizes the election list (whether the congress requests or not), the Congress Presidium shall announce the list of personnel prepared by the Party Committee for the congress to refer to. Because the list of personnel prepared by the Party Committee is only for "reference", in reality, there have been situations: the election results of the congress are not as expected by the Party Committee, in some cases, not enough Party Committee members are elected. In fact, this is a violation of the principle of democratic centralism in the Party, causing low election quality and even difficulties in personnel work.

To promote democracy within the Party, the newly issued regulations stipulate: In the introduction of personnel for Party congresses at all levels, the maximum balance shall not exceed 30%, of which the list nominated by the Party Committee shall have a minimum balance of 10-15%, the rest shall be nominated by the Congress. Thus, the list of candidates for election at the Party Committee level includes the list nominated by the Party Committee convening the Congress and the candidates and nominees at the Congress.

With the above provisions, the newly issued Party Election Regulations are a new step forward in the awareness and implementation of the principle of democratic centralism within the Party, both promoting democracy and ensuring high concentration. In the upcoming Party Congresses at all levels, Party committees convening the congresses need to promote the high sense of responsibility of each Party committee member, properly implementing the regulations to ensure election discipline within the Party.

Tran Hong Co