On January 23rd, the Congress heard a report on personnel matters.

On January 23rd, the Congress convened in the Assembly Hall to continue discussing the documents of the 12th Congress and to hear the report of the 11th Central Committee on personnel matters for the 12th Central Committee.

Comrade Truong Tan Sang, member of the Political Bureau and President of the Republic, chaired the afternoon session on January 22nd on behalf of the Presidium.

Earlier, Comrade Le Hong Anh, Member of the Political Bureau, Standing Member of the Secretariat, and Head of the Organizing Subcommittee for the 12th Party Congress, gave an interview to VNA regarding the personnel requirements and standards for the 12th Central Committee.

4 requirements for the new Central Committee

Comrade Le Hong Anh stated that, in order to build the 12th Central Committee of the Party, the 11th Central Committee had set out four requirements:

The 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam must truly be a united, clean, strong collective, unified in will and action, possessing firm political resolve, impeccable moral character, steadfast in the goals of independence, democracy, and socialism, a prosperous people, a strong nation, democracy, fairness, and civilization; possessing strategic vision; having intelligence, innovative and creative thinking; representing the entire Party in terms of fighting spirit and discipline; closely connected with the people, fostering unity and solidarity within the entire Party and the entire people; and having sufficient prestige and capacity to lead the country in the new stage of development.

- There should be a reasonable number and structure to ensure comprehensive leadership, and the number of Central Committee members should be increased in important positions, locations, and fields of work.

- Ensuring continuity and development.

- The nomination of personnel, in general, must be based on the planning of the Central Committee of the Party, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and key leadership positions of the Party and State for the 2016-2021 term and subsequent terms; upholding principles, regulations, and rules; promoting responsibility, democracy, openness, transparency, and objectivity in nominating, evaluating, and selecting personnel to participate in the Central Committee of the Party, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and key leadership positions of the Party and State; combating opportunistic tendencies, power ambitions, lobbying, parochialism, factionalism, and group interests; and being vigilant against the conspiracies of hostile forces to undermine and disrupt internal affairs.

Criteria for Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Party Congress

Simultaneously, the regulations stipulate that members of the 12th Central Committee of the Party must be exemplary comrades of the Party in terms of political acumen, moral character, and work capacity; ensuring the general standards of cadres according to Resolution No. 3 of the 8th Central Committee on the Cadre Strategy during the period of accelerated industrialization and modernization of the country; while also focusing on three groups of standards:

- Possessing a profound patriotic spirit, firm political resolve, and unwavering commitment to the goals of national independence and socialism; absolutely loyal to Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, the Party's Platform and policies, the State Constitution, and national interests; having a high fighting spirit, setting an example in implementing the Party's principles and discipline, matching words with actions, maintaining close ties with the people, daring to confront difficulties and challenges, and being decisive in action.

- Possessing moral qualities and an upright, exemplary lifestyle, trusted by cadres, Party members, and the masses; demonstrating a high sense of responsibility and dedication to work; refraining from corruption, bureaucracy, opportunism, self-serving behavior, and ambition for power; resolutely fighting against negative manifestations, bureaucracy, and corruption; not allowing spouses, children, or relatives to exploit their positions for personal gain; consciously maintaining unity within the Party, setting an example in complying with assignments and organizational principles and discipline of the Party, especially the principle of democratic centralism, the principle of self-criticism and criticism; being fair and impartial in evaluating and utilizing cadres.

- Possessing the intellect, vision, strategic thinking, and comprehensive knowledge to participate in the planning of policies and collective leadership of the Central Committee of the Party; having the capacity to concretize and lead, direct, and organize the successful implementation of the Party's policies, tasks, and national development strategy in the new period within the assigned field and area of ​​work; demonstrating through practice that they are creative, enthusiastic, effective, and courageous in thinking, acting, and taking responsibility; able to unite, gather, and develop the team of cadres in the assigned field and area; having the awareness, responsibility, and ability to participate in discussions and contribute to the common decisions of the Central Committee of the Party; and having sufficient health to fulfill their duties.

In addition to the above criteria, during this term, the 11th Central Committee of the Party frankly stated that it would not allow individuals with any of the following shortcomings to be elected to the 12th Central Committee.

- Lack of firm political resolve; inconsistency in the Party's line and viewpoints; manifestations of political opportunism, ambition for power, flattery, lobbying, corruption, bureaucracy, parochialism, personal maneuvering, factionalism, and group interests; lack of independent judgment, unwillingness to fight to defend what is right.

- Violating the principles of democratic centralism, engaging in demagoguery, authoritarianism, and arbitrariness; lacking fairness and impartiality in evaluating and employing cadres; suppressing those who frankly fight for and criticize.

They bear primary responsibility for serious internal disunity or for allowing corruption, embezzlement, or major negative incidents to occur at the local level or within the unit.

- Refusal to study and learn, conservatism, stagnation, inefficiency, inconsistency between words and actions; poor discipline, failure to comply with organizational assignments and directives, declining reputation.

- Making dishonest declarations of assets, showing signs of rapid wealth accumulation, owning multiple houses, land, and other assets without clearly explaining their origin; the individual or their spouse or children exhibiting an unexemplary lifestyle, or abusing their position of power for personal gain.

- There are unresolved issues regarding political history or current politics.

The new Central Committee is expected to have 200 members.

To ensure comprehensive leadership, the 12th Central Committee of the Party needs a rational structure to assign responsibilities for Party work, the Fatherland Front, political and social organizations, key state agencies at the central and local levels, and the armed forces. However, while ensuring the required standards, it is not necessary for every locality, field, or sector to have a representative on the Central Committee.

Based on calculations to ensure comprehensive leadership, the 12th Central Committee of the Party is expected to have 200 members, including 180 full members and 20 alternate members (the 11th Central Committee had 175 full members and 25 alternate members); the number of re-elected members is expected to be around 55-60% (new members about 40-45%).

To ensure continuity and development, the 12th Central Committee of the Party needs a structure with three age groups: 15-20% under 50 years old; 65-70% between 50-60 years old; and 5-10% over 60 years old. Those participating in the Central Committee for the first time should be old enough to serve for at least two terms, or at least one full term. The goal is to build a structure with a proportion of female cadres exceeding 10% (8.13% in the 11th term), young cadres under 40 years old ranging from 4-6% (2.2% in the 11th term), and cadres from ethnic minorities ranging from 9-10% (8.75% in the 11th term). In addition, the inclusion of a number of scientists, artists, and leaders of some large state-owned corporations and companies who meet the qualifications and conditions to participate is also a new feature in the personnel work of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, term 2016-2021.

According to chinhphu.vn