Fading ideals are easily corrupted.

In the 92 years since its founding, the Party has always promoted the pioneering and exemplary role of cadres and party members. Many individuals and groups of cadres and party members have been steadfast in fighting, working and studying, contributing to the great achievements of the country. However, there are also cadres and party members who cannot maintain themselves, self-evolve, self-transform, become corrupt, and negative... That has partly reduced the people's trust in the leadership of the Party.

13th Central Conference 4th term.

Party building and rectification have become important and continuous tasks in the past terms, especially since the 4th Central Conference of the 13th tenure. The Party has expanded its scope, not only in Party building and rectification but also in the building of the political system. Along with "prevention and pushback", the Party's new motto is to "proactively" prevent and resolutely fight against degradation and negativity in the Party.

President Ho Chi Minh once warned: "A nation, a party and each person, who were great yesterday, had great appeal, may not necessarily be loved and praised by everyone today and tomorrow, if their hearts are not pure, if they fall into individualism."

This is also what General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is always concerned about and worried about: “Cadres and party members holding many important responsibilities often have to face the temptations of money, material wealth, power, and personal interests. Lessons on party member discipline in recent times show that: all party members, regardless of their positions or responsibilities, must never relax their self-awareness and self-training. In particular, resolutely fighting against and eliminating those who have degenerated and become corrupt, this is the greatest task of the Party in the current period to take care of maintaining the revolutionary nature and vanguard character of the Party”.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivered the closing speech at the 4th Central Conference of the 13th tenure.

50 years in the Party, Colonel, Hero of the Armed Forces Tran Thanh, former officer of the Ministry of National Defense said: he himself does not regret the days of sacrificing blood and bones for the Party and the country. He is happy to see the development of the country, thanks to the talented leadership of the Party, has overcome many difficulties. However, facing the problems of life and society today, many Party organizations, individuals, even high-ranking Party officials violate that, which is also what he worries about most: being exemplary to keep the Party clean.

“Resolutely fighting against and eliminating degenerates is the greatest task of the Party, creating trust for the people. I see that this task, as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said: no one can resist the law of development, under the development of the Party. That is the task that brings the greatest trust. If the Party can do it, the Party's prestige will be very high. That is what I hope the Party will continue to promote in the work of eliminating degenerates” - Colonel Tran Thanh pondered.

To continue building and rectifying the Party, the 4th Central Resolution of the 11th tenure, the 4th Central Resolution of the 12th tenure, and then Conclusion No. 21 of the 4th Central Conference (13th tenure) have expanded the scope, not only in building and rectifying the Party but also in building the political system. Along with "prevention and pushback", the Party's new motto is to "proactively" prevent, resolutely fight, and strictly handle the degradation of political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and corrupt and negative behaviors... That shows the Party's very high political determination in effectively, continuously, and relentlessly fighting against corruption and negativity, purifying the contingent of cadres and Party members, meeting the requirements, demands and trust of the people.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Bao, Academy of Journalism and Communication, said: “The issue of ideals and political enlightenment is extremely important, especially in the current context of integration. The negative aspects of the market economy, individualism, selfish lifestyle, profiteering, chasing after money. The 4th Central Conference pointed out: the desire for fame, the desire for titles, the desire for power. Those things are very easy to degenerate if we do not have a stance, do not have courage, do not cultivate our political ideals, then it is very easy to degenerate.”

From this initiative, in 2021, many high-ranking officials who violated corruption and negativity were disciplined, including 32 cases under the management of the Politburo and Secretariat, an increase of 15 cases compared to 2020. Through inspection and audit, recommendations were made to handle finances, recover 81,290 billion VND and 811 hectares of land; recommend administrative handling of 2,286 collectives and 6,000 individuals. Party committees, party organizations, and functional agencies strictly implemented the mechanism to detect and handle violations during the process of inspection, audit, investigation, prosecution, trial, and execution of judgments; through inspection, supervision, inspection, and audit, more than 330 cases with signs of crime were transferred to the investigation agency for consideration and handling, an increase of more than 3 times compared to 2020.

Building a clean and strong Party, improving the Party's leadership capacity and fighting strength is a key task, of vital significance to the Party and the country's revolutionary cause. The people expect the Party to be proactive in preventing, resolutely fighting, and strictly handling degradation and negativity. For that reason, each cadre and Party member needs to fully understand their pioneering and exemplary role to be worthy of being a Party member, fulfilling the important responsibilities assigned by the Party, State and People./.