A "Breakthrough" in Party Building Work
On the morning of January 15th, the Anh Son District Party Committee Hall was bustling with activity, like a festival. For the first time, 320 Party branch secretaries from 21 communes and towns gathered in full force. They shared their thoughts and concerns, discussing issues of national importance as well as problems and shortcomings within their own communes and villages. This allowed them to exchange ideas and discuss strategies to advance the local movements.
(Baonghean)On the morning of January 15th, the Anh Son District Party Committee Hall was bustling with activity, like a festival. For the first time, 320 Party branch secretaries from 21 communes and towns gathered in full force. They shared their thoughts and concerns, discussing issues of national importance as well as problems and shortcomings within their own communes and villages. This allowed them to exchange ideas and discuss strategies to advance the local movements.
The dialogue conference between the Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee and the secretaries of the Party branches under its jurisdiction in communes and towns, held in the early days of 2013, was the next step in the implementation of Resolution No. 4 of the 11th Central Committee. This was a crucial conference, serving as an opening for drawing lessons for other localities throughout the province, demonstrating innovation in methods, responsibilities, and approaches in Party building work. The conference also provided an opportunity for the Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee to gather comprehensive information from the grassroots level to learn from experience in leadership and guidance, as well as to address shortcomings and obstacles in practice, and to suggest ways to help the secretaries of the Party branches in communes and towns effectively carry out their duties.
Prior to the conference, the Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee developed an outline outlining the topics for dialogue across various fields: economy, society, national defense and security, and Party building, and sent it to the Party branches and committees. Based on this, they compiled feedback and assigned responsibility to relevant departments and agencies to respond. The Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee reported on the compilation of 198 opinions and frankly addressed the issues at the conference. Hot issues raised by the Party branch secretaries included: the directive prohibiting alcohol consumption during morning working hours, office hours, and lunch breaks – a directive widely supported by officials and the public; how to maintain and effectively implement this directive? And what further reforms will the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee implement in the future regarding personnel organization? Public opinion reflects concerns about the inadequacy of benefits for war invalids, sick soldiers, victims of Agent Orange, and social welfare recipients, causing public dissatisfaction. The processing of benefits and policies at hospitals is often untimely, and there are instances of corruption within hospitals. The practice of giving bribes in hospitals persists, and hospital hygiene is severely poor…
Party branch secretaries attended and spoke at the meeting and dialogue.
At the conference, the concerns and anxieties regarding practical issues at the grassroots level were frankly addressed by the branch secretaries. The branch secretary of Hamlet 14, Duc Son Commune, expressed his concern: "In rural branches, the majority of party members are elderly. For example, the branch of Hamlet 14, Duc Son Commune, has 8 party members, including 4 retired members, 3 members working at the commune level, and 1 member who is past retirement age. Therefore, implementing resolutions is difficult." Sharing the same concerns, Tran Van Hai, Party Secretary of Hamlet 7, Cao Son Commune, reflected: “Currently, the Party branch of Hamlet 7, Cao Son Commune, has 11 out of 15 retired Party members, 6 out of 15 elderly Party members exempt from Party activities, and the branch has not admitted any new Party members for three consecutive years. Many Party branches are aging due to the increasing average age, making it very difficult to recruit and supplement the next generation of Party members. The district needs to train and develop the team of Party branch secretaries. Currently, the leadership role of the Party branch is still weak, and Party members are not able to play their pioneering role in all activities. What are the causes? What solutions are there to improve the quality of Party branch activities and the leadership capacity of rural Party branches?”
Pham Xuan Dieu, Party Secretary of Hamlet 2, Tuong Son Commune, expressed his concern: “In the planning of village and hamlet cadres, should there be an age limit for village heads and Party branch secretaries? In reality, at the grassroots level, Party branch secretaries are often elderly, and village heads are mostly elected by the people, leading to significant shortcomings in the leadership and guidance of the Party branches.” Some young cadres have lifestyles detached from the people, failing to diligently study to improve their skills and communication abilities. Furthermore, a current difficulty in grassroots Party branches is managing young Party members who work far from home. According to guidelines, Party members who do not participate in activities and pay Party dues for three months will be removed from the Party membership list.
However, these party members, while paying their dues in full, do not participate in party activities. Therefore, at the end of the year, it is difficult for the grassroots level to determine the level of task completion by party members, and classifying party members is a very challenging issue. This is one of the obstacles to improving the leadership capacity and fighting strength of grassroots party organizations in localities and needs to be addressed by party committees at all levels with effective solutions.” “The implementation of the new rural development program, land conversion, and the construction of large-scale model fields faces many difficulties. The issue of vocational training for rural laborers still has many shortcomings and is not closely aligned with actual needs to solve local employment problems and increase income,” suggested Nguyen Cong Anh, Secretary of the Party Branch of Hamlet 2, Linh Son Commune.
Discussions on the sidelines of the conference. Photo: Sy Thuan.
Many opinions and suggestions from Party branch secretaries related to socio-economic development and social welfare were presented to the District Party Committee Standing Committee. Among them were many concerns such as: “The first-ever meeting and dialogue between the Standing Committee and the subordinate Party branch secretaries is very significant in our district; therefore, after this meeting and dialogue, what activities will the district and grassroots levels organize to continue implementing democracy within the Party and among the people?”
In a spirit of democracy, responsibility, frankness, and without avoidance, the Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee affirmed that the opinions of the Party branch secretaries were well-founded, frankly acknowledging responsibility for shortcomings and limitations in the leadership and guidance process, such as weaknesses in the training, evaluation, appointment, promotion, rotation, and placement of cadres. There are still some district officials and civil servants who have little contact with the people, are distant from them, and are not truly committed to serving them. In addition to pressing issues, for each specific area, members of the Standing Committee and leaders of several departments and agencies of Anh Son district directly answered and resolved difficulties, offering solutions for the future, which created a high level of consensus and agreement.
Comrade Nguyen Thanh Hien, Secretary of the Anh Son District Party Committee, stated: “The greatest achievement of this conference is the creation of a democratic atmosphere within the Party; the closeness and responsibility of those working in Party affairs from the district to the grassroots level. Based on the experience of this conference, Anh Son district will continue to widely and regularly implement meetings and dialogues between the heads of Party organizations, government agencies, the Fatherland Front, and people's organizations. The district is preparing to organize two dialogues with 233 contract teachers and a dialogue with the people of Block 3, town, regarding compensation for land clearance. Many grassroots Party committees, government agencies, the Fatherland Front, and people's organizations are planning to organize many more dialogues.”
Thanh Le
