Preparing human resources for the future development of the country.

The 14th National Congress of the Party, scheduled for early 2026, will be a special congress, ushering in a new era of national development to celebrate the Party's 100th anniversary (1930-2030), and creating an important foundation for the final push to achieve many important goals in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the nation's founding.

Preparations for the congress are entering their final stages. Among these, preparing high-level personnel for the new term is always an extremely important issue.

Use efficiency and dedication as the criteria for appointing officials.

In his closing remarks at the 12th Central Committee meeting last weekend, General Secretary To Lam stated that the Central Committee considers the "Guidelines for Personnel Work at the 14th Party Congress" to be a particularly important document, determining all aspects of the preparation and election of personnel for the Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the General Secretary, and key leadership positions in the State, contributing to the success of the 14th Party Congress.

At the same time, we must continue to enhance the position and further affirm the comprehensive, absolute, and direct leadership role of the Party over the country, especially as we are vigorously, synchronously, and comprehensively directing the revolution to reorganize and streamline the apparatus from the central to the grassroots level in order to enter an era of prosperous national development.

In the spirit of viewing "personnel work as the key of keys," the General Secretary affirmed: The preparation of personnel for the 14th Party Congress must be carried out in a synchronized, scientific, systematic, rigorous, democratic, objective, and transparent manner; ensuring compliance with Party regulations, the principle of democratic centralism, and legal provisions.

Particularly with regard to personnel in the Central Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat, General Secretary To Lam demanded adherence to the Party's fundamental viewpoints and principles; prioritizing national interests above all else; and harmoniously and rationally balancing standards and structure; continuity, stability, and innovation; universality and specificity; professional training and practical skills; and prestige, work experience, and future development prospects.

In particular, the General Secretary emphasized the importance of prioritizing the quality, effectiveness, and output of work, as well as the contributions of cadres, as benchmarks in evaluating, assigning, and utilizing personnel; ensuring appropriateness in terms of structure, age, gender, ethnicity, region, and locality.

In other words, the selection of senior Party leaders from this term onwards must be measured by their work performance. Being "long-serving" should not be the sole criterion for promotion to "veteran" status.

The initial results of the administrative unit restructuring and the implementation of the two-tiered local government model are not yet reassuring. The next five years will be a transitional period for the country's governance apparatus to become truly streamlined, modern, efficient, effective, and effective.

The country desperately needs a team of leaders with innovative thinking, who dare to think, dare to act, dare to take responsibility, and are willing to sacrifice personal interests to dedicate all their intellect to the common cause, especially key leaders and high-ranking officials of the Party and the State.

Therefore, the introduction and selection of personnel for this term must be based on the prescribed standards and conditions. This should be linked to the personnel arrangement plan for key leadership positions in ministries, departments, agencies, and units at the central and local levels for the 2026-2031 term, as well as in the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations for the next term.

Promptly address the situation where newly elected personnel are already facing disciplinary action.

Notably, a new aspect of personnel preparation for this term, while still based on planning, is not overly rigid. Instead, it must be based on specific realities, considering and not overlooking individuals outside the plan who possess outstanding leadership qualities and capabilities, best meeting the requirements of the revolution in the new phase.

This change in personnel selection methods stems from the fact that many individuals selected according to the plan have failed to fulfill their responsibilities and meet the expectations of the Party and the people once they enter the Central Committee and take on new tasks.

This can be seen in the reality of what has happened in recent terms, especially the 13th term. We have witnessed many high-ranking officials of the Party and State being disciplined, dismissed from their positions, and prosecuted, seriously affecting the prestige of the Party and the trust of the people.

Therefore, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the requirement to "resolutely prevent unworthy individuals who do not meet the standards and conditions from participating in the 14th Central Committee of the Party; at the same time, effective solutions and measures must be implemented to limit and promptly address the situation where newly elected members of the Central Committee or those newly planned or appointed have to undergo review, disciplinary action, or criminal prosecution."

"The quality of the cadres determines the quality of the movement" - President Ho Chi Minh's simple and easy-to-understand saying on cadre work is always a crucial admonition that must not be forgotten when selecting and appointing leadership personnel. Regardless of the circumstances, the selection of cadres must be absolutely fair and impartial; resolutely avoiding arbitrariness, lack of principles, the planting of "dummy candidates," personal interests, factionalism, group interests, localism, favoritism, cronyism… preventing opportunists and power-hungry individuals from infiltrating the Central Committee and climbing high into the country's leadership apparatus.

"Preparing high-level personnel is not just for one Party Congress; furthermore, it is about preparing personnel for the future development of the Party organization, the development of the industry, sector, locality, agency, and unit; more broadly, it is about the destiny of the Party, the survival of the regime, and the development of the country and the nation," General Secretary To Lam once emphasized when speaking about the personnel preparation for the next Party Congress.

Therefore, those working in personnel management must possess a discerning eye to select and recommend good cadres for the Party and the country. These are individuals who truly exemplify moral character, possess the talent to overcome the challenges of the times, and fulfill the mission of leading the country into a new era.