Comments on the Documents of the 14th National Congress of the Party: The development of the Party's theory on people's power in the new era

The history of the Vietnamese revolution has proven: All victories of our nation originate from the strength of the people, from the great unity of the entire nation. President Ho Chi Minh once affirmed: "It is a hundred times easier to endure without the people, and a thousand times harder to overcome with the people." That is a truth of lasting value, the foundation for the ideology "People are the root", "People are the subject of all development achievements", which our Party has steadfastly maintained and developed over the years.

The Draft Political Report submitted to the 14th National Party Congress continues to inherit and develop that ideology, and at the same time, makes a big step forward in theoretical scope - when it first proposed the policy of "Building and implementing the Strategy of great national unity until 2035, vision 2045". This is a new theoretical highlight, reflecting the maturity in the Party's thinking about the role, position and strength of the people in the context of digital transformation, deep integration and sustainable development of the country.

During the process of contributing comments to the Draft Documents of the 14th National Congress, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province organized a democratic and open consultation, attracting a large number of people from all walks of life, intellectuals, religious dignitaries, and prestigious people in the community. Most of the comments highly appreciated the careful and scientific preparation of the Draft, especially the comprehensive and systematic approach, reflecting the Party's innovative thinking. It is worth noting that, in the entire Draft Political Report, the phrase "Vietnam Fatherland Front" was mentioned 12 times - a number that is not only symbolic, but also reflects a new theoretical height: The Party considers the Front not only an organization that gathers and mobilizes people, but also an active subject in monitoring, social criticism, Party and government building, and perfecting the country's development institutions. This also affirms the strategic importance of the Front in consolidating the great national unity bloc, promoting socialist democracy, ensuring transparency, publicity and consensus throughout society.

From a practical perspective, the Draft Document's strong mention of the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front shows the consistency in the Party's leadership thinking on the power mechanism in the political system: the Party leads, the State manages, the People are the masters; the Front is the bridge between the people's will and the Party's guidelines. This affirmation opens up a wide practical space for the Front at all levels to innovate the content and methods of operation, promoting the central role of solidarity in the new development stage. However, practice also shows that the monitoring and social criticism activities of the Front and socio-political organizations still have many limitations. Some places are still formal, heavily procedural, and not linked to specific people's livelihood issues. The mechanism for responding to and receiving recommendations of the Front from State agencies is unclear; there is a lack of a strong legal corridor and conditions for implementation. Therefore, "criticism" sometimes does not create substantive changes in policy. These limitations, as the Draft Political Report has frankly pointed out, are the "bottlenecks" that need to be removed in the process of building the National Great Unity Strategy, so that the Front can truly become "the eyes and ears of the people, the voice of the people", worthy of the central role of the national great unity bloc.

I completely agree with the policy of "building and implementing the National Great Unity Strategy to 2035, vision 2045" identified in the Draft Document.

This is not only the inheritance of Ho Chi Minh's thought "Great national unity is a strategic issue, ensuring the success of the revolution" but also a high step in the theoretical thinking of the Party when great unity is elevated to a national strategy with clear goals, visions, roadmaps and implementation mechanisms. Great unity is approached not only as a traditional value, but in a comprehensive and synchronous direction, considering great unity as the political and social foundation of economic, cultural, defense and foreign affairs development, operated by a harmonious coordination mechanism between the Party, the State, the Front and socio-political organizations. In particular, the Front needs to be more clearly identified as the center of unity, the political bridge between the Party, the State and the People, the core force in practicing democracy, representing and protecting the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the people. The Front must not only mobilize and gather, but also become a vanguard force to arouse patriotism, dedication, and development aspirations among all classes of people, contributing to consolidating trust and enhancing social consensus - a solid foundation for national stability and development.

For the strategy to truly come into life, I recommend that it is necessary to concretize the motto "People know, people discuss, people do, people check, people supervise, people benefit" with quantitative indicators and independent monitoring tools at each level of government. Research and develop a National Index on the level of democracy and social consensus implementation, chaired by the Front, to measure the effectiveness of promoting people's mastery. Complete the legal corridor for social monitoring and criticism activities, ensuring that the Front's recommendations and criticisms are received, responded to and handled publicly and transparently by responsible Party and State agencies. Strengthen training and fostering a team of Front officials with the capacity to research, synthesize and apply digital technology to grasp public opinion, deploy monitoring and criticism on digital platforms, ensuring timeliness, objectivity, closeness to the people and closeness to reality.

National solidarity in the current period is not only a matter of "who unites with whom", but also how to make the people truly master, so that every citizen has the opportunity to participate, contribute and enjoy the fruits of development. It is also the process of building the mastery capacity of each citizen in the digital space, when technology becomes a tool to expand democracy, enhance transparency and connection between the State and the People. Therefore, the National Great Unity Strategy needs to be placed in the context of comprehensive digital transformation, considering "digital transformation in democratic practice" as an important component, helping the Front and socio-political organizations effectively promote their role as a bridge, supervisor and critic in the new environment.

It can be affirmed that “building and implementing the Strategy of Great National Unity” is a new development step in the theoretical and practical thinking of our Party on promoting people's strength. This is both the highlight of the 14th Congress Document and a great spiritual and political motivation for the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army to unify their will and actions for the goal of “A rich people, a strong country, democracy, fairness and civilization”.

From the reality of Nghe An - a land rich in revolutionary tradition, I believe that, with the wise leadership of the Party and the proactive and creative participation of the Front at all levels, the Strategy of Great National Unity will become a vivid reality, awakening the strength of Vietnam in the new era - for a prosperous and happy country, with a prosperous and happy people.

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Plum Blossom(Note) – Technique:Nam Phong