"What Uncle Ho said about selecting cadres remains very relevant today."
That was the emphatic opinion of Professor Hoang Chi Bao, former member of the Central Theoretical Council, when referring to the article by the General Secretary and President on the preparation of personnel for the 13th Party Congress.
“The article by General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong contains many new and profound ideas and can be considered a message from the head of the Party and State to us. It demands that we seriously and highly uphold the spirit of responsibility to serve the people in order to select a team of high-ranking officials, especially those at the strategic level, who are truly virtuous and talented,” Professor Hoang Chi Bao, former member of the Central Theoretical Council, emphasized this when referring to the article by the General Secretary and President on the preparation of personnel for the 13th Party Congress.
Full text of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Central Committee Conference.
On the morning of May 11th, the 12th Conference of the Central Committee of the 12th Party Congress was solemnly inaugurated in Hanoi. General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong delivered an important opening speech at the Conference.
According to the professor, the standards and requirements for personnel selection set by the Party and State leaders reflect the will of the entire Party and the entire nation. These standards have been carefully considered and derived from valuable lessons learned from mistakes and shortcomings in personnel work in the past, most notably the recent Party Congress.
It is evident that the standards for high-ranking officials are very clear: they must possess strong political acumen, have impeccable moral character and a clean, exemplary lifestyle, and be trusted by officials, Party members, and the people; they must be free from corruption; and they must have intelligence, vision, strategic thinking, and relatively comprehensive knowledge... Among these very specific standards, the General Secretary and President particularly emphasized the relationship between virtue and talent, as well as the position and relationship between virtue and talent in the character of officials. He stressed: Officials must possess both virtue and talent, with virtue being the foundation ("a good heart is worth more than three talents").
Professor Hoang Chi Bao analyzed that talent is necessary and very important because without talent, officials cannot work, especially in the current demands of innovation, creativity, modernization of the country, and integration with the world. Talent here is not measured by academic degrees, because many officials have matured through practical experience, self-learning to acquire a substantial amount of knowledge. These individuals are far more valuable than those who merely adorn themselves with degrees and certificates but are incompetent. Even worse, officials may use fake or fraudulent degrees. Therefore, the talent of officials should not be judged solely by academic degrees, but by their actual competence, their practical ability to solve problems effectively, and their positive impact on people's lives, especially within the area and field they are responsible for.
Talent is not synonymous with education. Talent must reach a level of creativity, courage to perceive things in order to discover new things, and a willingness to innovate. Talent is important, but it is still guided by moral principles. Therefore, virtue is the foundation, while talent is important. This is also a great idea of President Ho Chi Minh, and a consistent policy of our Party in selecting cadres.
It is clear that both virtue and talent are important. Virtue is inseparable from talent, and talent is inseparable from virtue. We must avoid the situation of overemphasizing virtue while neglecting talent, or vice versa. During his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh once said: "A person with talent without virtue is useless; a person with virtue without talent will find it difficult to accomplish anything." Therefore, when selecting cadres, one must be very discerning and insightful, avoiding misjudging others or assuming something is ripe just because it is red. Instead, one must look at the substance, which is always simple, profound, and honest. It is therefore no coincidence that Uncle Ho advised cadres: Honesty is best, sincerity is most valuable; nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the people, so nothing is better than sincerity and honesty.
“Our Party must learn from Uncle Ho's profound thinking to carefully consider and select a team of cadres that are worthy, in line with the people's will and aspirations. Because whether the cadres are good or bad, the movement will be affected. Good cadres will lead to the revolution's victory, while bad cadres will cause difficulties, even failure. Uncle Ho also said: Cadres are the capital of the organization. With capital, you can make a profit. Any policy or task, if it has good cadres, will succeed, meaning it will be profitable. Without good cadres, the work will fail, meaning it will be a loss,” – Professor Hoang Chi Bao stated.
According to the professor, the best way to find truly virtuous and talented officials is to listen to the opinions of the people. Gathering public opinion also requires a mechanism, such as the necessary public disclosure of the proposed list of 200 central-level personnel so that the entire population can be informed and contribute their opinions.
He argued that the people are very close to life and also close to the officials, so they know who is genuine and who is fake, who is good and who is bad, who is dedicated to the people, and who constantly claims to be for the people but is actually only acting for themselves. The people help the Party select talented individuals through information, therefore, in personnel work, it is necessary to listen to the people and rely on the people to build the Party.
Furthermore, to select talented individuals, the Party must emphasize the responsibility of its committees, especially the leaders. This idea dates back to our ancestors' feudal era. If someone recommends a cadre who makes mistakes or is unworthy, the recommender must bear joint responsibility. Therefore, in the selection of personnel for the 13th Party Congress, the Party must bear joint responsibility for the personnel it proposes and recommends. The selection of cadres must be fair and objective, not influenced by personal feelings, favoritism, or factionalism, nor by group interests or cronyism that would bring those who are compatible into the system while those with true virtue and talent are excluded.
Even if we "dislike" certain officials, if they are truly capable, good people, trusted by the people, and beneficial to the revolution, we must still use them. And once we use them, we must trust, rely on, and respect them. Of course, this must be accompanied by a control mechanism to protect them and prevent them from going down the wrong path.
“These things Uncle Ho said 70 years ago, at the beginning of the resistance war against the French, still seem very relevant to us today. Therefore, we must rely on the people, rely on the Party's internal structure, and uphold responsibility to select truly virtuous and talented individuals. This requires great vigilance, caution, and wisdom, especially impartiality and objectivity, always using the interests of the nation and the people as the yardstick, not personal gain,” Professor Hoang Chi Bao emphasized.
Referring to the new points in the article by General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, Professor Hoang Chi Bao said that the head of the Party and State has been very frank in stating the truth, making very high and serious demands, clearly defining the criteria and methods of selection based on virtue and talent. The selection method here must be based on practical actions, work, effectiveness, and prestige among the people and the Party, not on self-assessment, and certainly not on academic qualifications.
The speeches of the General Secretary and President, both directly and indirectly, contained warnings and admonitions: "Don't mistake red for ripe," don't just see the "outward appearance, it hides the shoddy inner workings"... This not only raises people's thinking and awareness, but also directly creates pressure on those responsible for designing Party personnel at all levels, from local to central.
One point that the General Secretary and President have repeatedly emphasized is that we must absolutely not allow political opportunists, power-hungry individuals, sycophants, lobbyists, corrupt individuals, those who lobby for personal gain, factions, or group interests; those who are morally dishonest, who abuse their positions for personal gain, or whose family members, relatives, spouses, or children exploit their positions for personal gain... to infiltrate the system.
Recalling a thought-provoking fact that no term, even before the end of 5 years, has seen as many officials under central management being disciplined as the 12th term, Professor Hoang Chi Bao stated that this reality, though painful and costly, teaches us a lesson: Virtue is fundamental, talent is important, virtue and talent are inseparable; virtue is within talent and talent is within virtue. Morality ensures the development of talent, while talent allows morality to flourish. Having virtue without talent easily leads to corruption; without virtue, talent cannot be utilized, and may even become distorted, leading to dissatisfaction and self-centeredness focused on family and group interests.
“The General Secretary himself is a role model of morality, and he is also a scientist, whose knowledge, experience, and clean personal life are what make him so highly respected by the people and the Party. With the sense of responsibility of a leader, accountable to the Party and the people, he has had to plan specific steps, even those that are scientific and artistic, to select the best cadres. But the General Secretary's enthusiasm and determination alone are not enough; they must be translated into a synchronized movement of the entire high-level leadership, most importantly the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Central Committee. We have reason to believe that the 13th Party Congress, with such great determination, will bring about positive changes, selecting those who are sincere, honest, upright, and the best, meeting the requirements compared to previous terms,” said Professor Hoang Chi Bao.