National Festival: Faith and Aspiration

National Festival: The National Assembly and People's Council Election Day is the day when the whole community, regardless of age, gender, or social class, joins in the same joyful excitement and the same spirit of unity: The joyful day of national reunification is like the Independence Day of the ethnic minorities in the highlands. National Festival from the border to the islands, from the plains to the mountains, all citizens aged 18 and over have the right to vote.

The election ballot has materialized, carrying all the thoughts and feelings, the weight and load of time, from the solemn history of the past to start a bright future. Each ballot in the voter's hand, though small and thin like a piece of student paper, with the most basic information, contains extremely sacred and noble common values. It is the absolute affirmation and continuous continuation of the People's right to mastery over an independent, free, sovereign and territorially intact country. ThereforesuffrageIt is not only the personal right of each voter to vote for someone, but the ballot also affirms the political determination of those living today with the aspirations and wishes of our ancestors who sacrificed themselves for national independence and the cause of building the country.

Propaganda poster for the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term by author Pham Duy Khanh.

To have the right to vote today, many generations of our ancestors fought bravely, sacrificed their blood and bones to win and maintain the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, to protect the complete sovereignty of the country's territory. We still seem to hear the echoes of the national festival on Binh Than wharf of the Tran army and people with the historic Dien Hong conference shouting in unison: "Sat That" (fight the Yuan invaders). We still hear the echoes of the Declaration affirming the boundaries of the land and mountains in the song "Nam Quoc Son Ha" of national hero Ly Thuong Kiet: "The mountains and rivers of the South belong to the King of the South.. Those mountains and rivers have defeated the enemy many times with the waves of Bach Dang River and wooden stakes piercing enemy ships. Those mountains and rivers are the entire Truong Son range, following many troops into battle with immense spirit: "Splitting Truong Son mountain range to save the country”. The mountains and rivers have unique and miraculous roads: the Ho Chi Minh trail on the sea, the road for porters and bicycle porters to the Dien Bien Phu campaign. The mountains and rivers have the number one road running from North to South like a string of a monochord vibrating deeply with many passionate tones with the folk songs of the three regions. The ballots entrust so much trust and responsibility, great rights and obligations. That is when the people of the whole country exercise their right to be masters and fulfill their civic duties by going to the polls to choose truly worthy people, with both virtue and talent, both heart and vision, to replace them as elected representatives.

President Ho Chi Minhhas emphasized “Each vote is like a brick laying the foundation to build an increasingly rich and strong country", He added that each vote has “power like a bullet”. In the newspaper Cuu Quoc No. 130 published on December 31, 1945, in the article “The meaning of the General Election”Uncle Ho wrote very practically: "In the General Election, anyone who wants to take care of national affairs has the right to run for election, and anyone who is a citizen has the right to vote, regardless of gender, rich or poor, religion, class or political affiliation. Anyone who is a Vietnamese citizen has these two rights.

View of the early voting area in Muong Long village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong). Photo: Quang An

Innational festivalThe national election day of May 23, 2021 can be said to be a festival of the whole community: the community in all its feelings, the community in all its intelligence, the community in all regions of the country from the language, from the common customs of the descendants of Lac Hong. And resonance: Resonance from the glorious past of four thousand years of the country's history; Resonance of cheers from farms and factories to the golden ripe rice fields; Resonance from the giant bridges stretching across the wide rivers from the routes: Roads, waterways, airways, giving wings to dreams of reaching out to integrate into the world. Poet Chinh Huu in the poem“Today's vote” wrote:“Every voter is a dreamer – This May, think about a long trip”. The dream here is the revolutionary romance, the aspiration for the future with much faith in the ballot, that is when researching the biography, the issues related to the candidates very carefully and thoroughly. Especially the action programs of the candidates, through contact with voters. The wishes of voters hope that the representatives of their voice must truly convey their thoughts and aspirations to the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels.

That belief has been affirmed, proven and increasingly developed perfectly through the right to make wise and fair choices for the ultimate goal of a rich people and a strong country.

These are close, practical issues in life. Such as employment conditions, food safety, marine environment, island border security, anti-corruption, anti-Covid epidemic to big issues related to the fate of the nation... are they resolved and improved as desired or not. Therefore, each voter is more thoroughly aware of their right to mastery through the ballot because the fate of each person and the entire nation is entrusted to the ballot with absolute trust. That trust has been tested and selected through many elections. That trust has been affirmed, proven and increasingly promoted perfectly through the right to make wise and fair choices for the ultimate goal of a rich people and a strong country.

People of Huoi To 1 village, Mai Son commune, Tuong Duong district eagerly go to vote. Photo: Duc Anh

Musician Do Nhuan, in the jubilant atmosphere of the moment of becoming a citizen of an independent country on the day of the General Election (January 1946), wrote the song: "National Assembly Day"with a bustling, exciting rhythm from the heart:“Come on, Vietnamese people, let's quickly pick up our ballots and go vote together - Let's together take our ballots to vote...”.We seem to hear and see the footsteps of people following each other to vote in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy. Sharing the same inspiration and the overflowing sound of the national festival, poet Chinh Huu wrote sincerely and emotionally with a poetic rhythm that was both ethereal and mellow, narrative and rich in lyricism during the second election (1960): “The May night is filled with the sound of drums - I walk in the cheering streets - As a workerThe people also wave flags - I want to write a poem to encourage"From the story of casting a vote, the poet painted life""Red brick construction sites like flowers"to the country's daily transformation "Markets, rivers, streets, houses"like a moody parade that creates emotional echoes interwoven with pressure and pride.This vote I cast for myself".

The Fatherland is full of love and gratitude through the ballots of outstanding people in whom we have placed our trust and hope.

I suddenly remembered my childhood memories, when we were young, we were young pioneers wearing red scarves and caps with a bustling frog drum group, enthusiastically going in a long line to all the streets and alleys to encourage adults to go to the polls tomorrow. And I wished that one day I would be old enough to be a citizen and hold a ballot in my hand and solemnly put it in the ballot box. Oh, how solemn and sacred the ballot box with the National Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam attached. There were mobile ballot boxes that came to the sickbed to help citizens exercise their rights. There were ballot boxes that crossed the stormy sea to the soldiers who were guarding the sacred land of the fatherland, casting ballots that made our hearts beat faster, with the breath of sunshine and the salty taste of the ocean. The ballot was so heavy and affectionate. This was the sacred soul of the mountains and rivers, this was the presence of the Fatherland. The Fatherland in Truong Sa, the Fatherland on the border. The Fatherland is full of love and gratitude through the ballots of outstanding people in whom we have placed our trust and hope.

Voters cast ballots. Photo: Duc Anh

My mother once told me that in the past, she was determined to join the literacy class to spell each word in the hope that on election day, she would be able to carefully write the names of the representatives she had carefully chosen and sign her name on the ballot as if depositing her absolute trust. That was a solid spiritual support, just like the green bamboo hedges that have been tightly packed together for generations to form a shield that protects the village. There, everyone was close, flesh and blood. The ballot was a noble humanistic message, but so close and intimate. I felt that on the day of the national election, the sky and earth changed. Nature was also full of flowers and fruits, the sun was also shimmering like honey, the clouds were also bluer and more brilliant in the vast sky, and everyone's faces were more radiant and intimate. A day that united the passionate beats of many hearts towards higher aspirations. The candidates were not only in their photos and biographies, but they seemed to be integrated with me as if they had just met yesterday. And how moved we suddenly are when remembering the number one citizen - beloved President Ho Chi Minh! In the voting booths, there is still the image of Uncle Ho calmly looking down gently with his silver beard, kind smile and bright eyes. Uncle is watching us, Uncle seems to be coming back to vote with us. And we still seem to hear the echoes of the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, when Uncle quoted the sentence: "All people are born equal, and nature gives them rights that no one can violate.in the 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States.

Dear Uncle, on this national festival day, freedom and equality are respected and the vote in each person's hand is a vote of faith - Faith in the future of the country, faith in a chosen class of talented people, faith in one's wise decision with many aspirations for the future./.