Ho Chi Minh - The designer of a new type of Vietnamese state

Find a way to save the country

In 1911, at the age of 21, Nguyen Tat Thanh began to devote himself tofind a new way to save the country. Unlike his predecessors Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh... who followed "new books, new literature", Dong Du went to Japan to return to Duy Tan, Nguyen Tat Thanh went to France, European and American countries, the "homeland" of capitalism and colonialism. There, Nguyen Tat Thanh learned about imperialism, colonialism, the state, its political, economic and social foundations... to find answers to the question of why they were rich, strong, and occupied other countries and gradually formed the idea of ​​a future state for his country.

Nguyen Ai Quoc at the Tours Congress in 1920. Photo archive

In 1919, signing the name Nguyen Ai Quoc, he, together with Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Van Truong, wrote and personally handed over to the French President the Petition of the Annamese People; joined the French Socialist Party, became a founder of the French Communist Party, the Colonial Union..., published the newspaper The Miserable, wrote the book The Verdict of the French Colonial Regime...

But since 1920, after reading Lenin's Theses on the National and Colonial Questions, Nguyen Tat Thanh/ Nguyen Ai Quoc chose communism and followed Lenin's path. But his destination was still the Vietnamese nation, independence for the country, freedom for the people. He wished and strived to build a new type of state, of the people, by the people and for the people... During that process, until August 1945, seizing favorable international and domestic opportunities, Nguyen Ai Quoc with the new name Ho Chi Minh led the General Uprising to successfully seize power nationwide.

General election for National Assembly

Immediately afterAugust Revolution successThe Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established and issued the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945.

From then on, President Ho Chi Minh began to practice building a rule of law, people's democracy according to the republican model that he had researched and designed before. The National Assembly - the fundamental political - legal institution of the nation/state was given priority by President Ho Chi Minh to promote its establishment through the General Election (right from the preparation for the General Uprising, on August 16, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh convened the National Congress/National Congress of Tan Trao, with more than 60 delegates from the 3 regions of North - Central - South, elected the National Liberation Committee, regulated the National Flag, decided on the General Uprising to seize power and many other important issues. There are opinions that the National Congress has the meaning of a provisional National Assembly to legitimately abolish the old government, build a new government after the revolution is successful).

Hanoi people welcome President Ho Chi Minh and candidates nominated for the 1st National Assembly. Photo: Archive

In the first meeting of the Provisional Government (September 3, 1945), President Ho Chi Minh “requested that the Government organize a general election as soon as possible with universal suffrage. All male and female citizens aged eighteen have the right to run for election and vote, regardless of wealth, poverty, religion, race…”.

On September 8, 1945, the President of the Provisional Government issued Decree No. 14-SL onGeneral election to elect the National Assembly. Then, on September 26, 1945, the Provisional Government issued Decree No. 39-SL on the establishment of the Committee to Draft the General Election Regulations; Decree No. 51-SL dated October 17, 1945 regulating the General Election regulations; Decree No. 71-SL dated December 2, 1945 supplementing Article 11, Chapter V of Decree No. 51 to create more favorable conditions for candidates.

In the context of having to deal with three enemies at the same time (foreign invasion, hunger and ignorance), the urgent organization of the General Election was an extremely fierce, complicated and fierce political/class/national movement/struggle that President Ho Chi Minh was the one who spearheaded. According to President Ho Chi Minh, the General Election "is an opportunity for the entire nation to freely choose talented and virtuous people to shoulder the country's affairs..."; To elect the National Assembly, the only organization with the authority to promulgate a Constitution - the necessary legal foundation for the newly established Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The election was scheduled for December 23, 1945, but in order to avoid a political crisis between the parties and have more time for preparation, especially for candidates to have the opportunity to submit applications and campaign, on December 18, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh signed a decree postponing the General Election until January 6, 1946. Through negotiations, the Viet Quoc (Vietnam Nationalist Party) agreed to cooperate and support the General Election. On that basis, on December 24, 1945, representatives of the Viet Minh, Viet Quoc, and Viet Cach (Vietnam Revolutionary Alliance) met and signed the "Solidarity Measures", which included provisions supporting the General Election and the Resistance, and agreed to expand the Provisional Government with representatives of the Viet Quoc and Viet Cach, and recognized 70 seats for them in the National Assembly without an election.

President Ho Chi Minh and members of the Government took the oath of office at the First Session of the First National Assembly (March 2, 1946). Photo: Archive

Aiming for the great goal of a successful General Election, on January 1, 1946, the Provisional Government was reformed into a Provisional Coalition Government, expanding the Government's composition to include other parties, although the postponement order did not arrive in time, so it was still carried out as planned before December 23, 1945, in some southern provinces. This was not only a "technical" solution but also demonstrated the mature political thinking of President Ho Chi Minh. It was half a month late but created the necessary stability to ensure the General Election was conducted smoothly.

The General Election was a great success; 333 delegates were elected, of which the Viet Minh had 120, the Vietnam Democratic Party 46, the Vietnam Socialist Party 24, and 143 were non-partisan, including 10 women; 34 were ethnic minorities; 87% were workers, farmers, and revolutionary soldiers. The two opposition parties Viet Quoc and Viet Cach did not participate in the election, but were given an additional 70 seats in the National Assembly. The first session of the first National Assembly elected the Standing Committee with Mr. Nguyen Van To as its Head; gave President Ho Chi Minh the right to form a new Government; and elected a Constitutional Drafting Committee of 11 people.

At this point, a new type of Vietnamese state was basically established in the true spirit of Ho Chi Minh.

Constitutional Building

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that at the same time as the general election preparation process, President Ho Chi Minh actively prepared the Draft Constitution. On September 20, 1945, he signed Decree No. 34/SL to establish the Government's Constitution Drafting Committee consisting of 7 people: Ho Chi Minh (Head of the Committee), Vinh Thuy/Bao Dai, Dang Thai Mai, Vu Trong Khanh, Le Van Hien, Nguyen Luong Bang, Dang Xuan Khu/Truong Chinh. After a period of preparation, the Draft Constitution was discussed, supplemented and published in the press by the Government Council in November 1945 for all people to participate in giving their opinions.

At the same time as the draft of the Government's Constitution Drafting Committee, the National Construction Committee (established in October 1945, including famous intellectuals such as Phan Anh, Tran Van Chuong, Hoang Xuan Han, Ta Quang Buu, Nguyen Xien, Dang Thai Mai, and Nguy Nhu Kon Tum) also drafted a draft Constitution to submit to the Government. Next, the National Assembly's Constitutional Subcommittee studied both drafts and "gathered the rich recommendations of the entire people and consulted the constitutional experiences of European and Asian countries" to produce a draft Constitution to submit to the National Assembly.

President Ho Chi Minh casts his vote to elect members of the State and National Assembly. Photo: VNA

In the meeting on October 29, 1946, the Constitutional Subcommittee of the National Assembly was expanded to include 10 more representatives from groups, neutral representatives, representatives from the South, and representatives of ethnic minorities to participate in further revising the draft and the National Assembly began discussing it from November 2, 1946. After many discussions, debates, additions and amendments, on November 9, 1946, at the 2nd session, the 1st National Assembly passed the full text of the first Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The 1946 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam deeply reflects the spirit of nationalism, democracy, humanity and the civilized, progressive, and universal legal values ​​of the world and the era; bearing the strong imprint of Ho Chi Minh's thought on the rule of law state of the people, by the people, and for the people. President Ho Chi Minh is the architect of this magnificent legal work.

The National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the 1946 Constitution are the results of the persistent and fierce struggle of all Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, headed by President Ho Chi Minh; they are the most fundamental political and legal foundation of the Vietnamese nation and people in the past 75 years and the development process in the future.

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(Quotations in the article are from Ho Chi Minh Complete Works; Volume 4; National Political Publishing House - Truth; Hanoi 2011).