Lesson 2: Difficulties in finding sources
Developing new Party members is a regular task aimed at ensuring continuity, development, and rejuvenation of the ranks, and enhancing the capacity and fighting strength of grassroots Party organizations at the local level and within units. However, in reality, the process of finding and creating sources for developing new Party members in Que Phong district is currently facing difficulties.
Khanh Ly - Dang CuongSeptember 29, 2024
Developing new Party members is a regular task aimed at ensuring continuity, development, and rejuvenation of the ranks, and enhancing the capacity and fighting strength of grassroots Party organizations at the local level and within units. However, in reality, the process of finding and creating sources for developing new Party members in Que Phong district is currently facing difficulties.
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Que Phong is a district classified under category 30a, facing many socio-economic difficulties, and the trend of people of working age migrating away from home is increasing (the entire district currently has about 6,000 workers going away to work, including 285 Party members).
The reality of villages and hamlets gradually lacking young laborers, and the fluctuating ranks of officials in mass organizations, has made the work of developing Party members difficult, even deadlocked, for many Party branches and committees in Que Phong district, making it impossible to find suitable candidates for training and recruitment.
The border commune of Nam Giai is highly regarded for its work in developing Party members, but at this time, the local Party committee is very worried as the number of newly admitted Party members is decreasing.
Speaking with us, the Party Secretary of Nam Giai commune, Comrade Sam Van Thanh, said: The entire commune has 242 Party members (150 rural Party members), 16 Party members are exempt from Party activities, including 8 Party members who work far away. In previous years, the Nam Giai commune Party Committee always met and exceeded its targets, but in 2024, for the first time, the commune Party Committee is facing the risk of not meeting the target. As of the end of August, only one outstanding individual, Ms. Luong Thi Lieu from the Women's Association of Pong village, has been admitted to the Party, and applications are currently being processed for two more individuals, while the district's target is to admit seven people.
The reason given is that Nam Giai only has 5 villages with 2,100 inhabitants, and due to difficult economic conditions, young people either go to university or college or go to work far away (the entire commune has more than 80 workers who work in companies in the northern provinces or go abroad for work).
“There are cases where people have attended Party orientation courses, but then go to work far away and cannot be admitted. This includes students who rarely return to their hometowns after graduation because it's difficult to find jobs; and a segment of young workers who stay in their hometowns only focus on developing their family's economy, participate little in local activities, have limited abilities, and are hesitant to join the Party,” said Comrade Luong Thi Hue, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Giai commune.
Meanwhile, sources from local units such as schools and health stations have also run out. The commune Party Committee has focused on cultivating outstanding individuals, such as daughters-in-law and sons-in-law who have settled in the locality, for membership, but there are not many suitable candidates either…”.
Comrade Luong Thi Hue - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Giai Commune
Currently, many grassroots Party organizations in Que Phong district are facing difficulties in meeting their targets; for example, the Party Committee of Kim Son town only admitted 4 new Party members in 2023 compared to the district's target of 20, and as of early September 2024, only 2 new Party members had been admitted.
According to Comrade Hoang Trung Thong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Kim Son town: The town's Party Committee has directed a review of potential candidates in each village and hamlet, assigning cadres and Party members in charge of the area to work with the Party branches to classify them into groups in order to find suitable solutions to identify, nurture, and create a long-term pool of potential candidates. However, this is very difficult; even with great effort, we can only achieve the target set by the Resolution of the Town Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term, and it is difficult to complete the target of 20 Party members per year assigned by the district. This is because, in reality, young workers (especially those aged 18-35) are not present in the locality, and creating a pool of potential candidates from other mass organizations is difficult due to many elderly people and their reluctance to join the Party…
Even in some areas that are meeting their targets, finding and recruiting new members remains a significant challenge. In Hanh Dich commune, there are currently 800 people working away from home, mostly young people. According to Comrade Ha Van Hai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the commune: In reality, the lives of a segment of the population in Hanh Dich are still difficult, while local job opportunities are limited. Graduating students often leave their hometowns for big cities or go abroad for work to earn a living, affecting the pool of potential Party members.
In some cases, individuals who work far from home occasionally return to their hometowns, but due to the short time spent at home, it is difficult to monitor and nurture them for potential Party membership. There are also cases where individuals have attended Party awareness training courses but did not have enough time to complete the membership application process.
According to Mr. Lo Van Phuong, Secretary of the Quang Vinh village Party branch in Hanh Dich commune, the Quang Vinh village Party branch had recommended two outstanding individuals, Ha Van Ngoc and Lu Van Nguyen, to attend Party membership training, but both subsequently went to work at companies in Bac Ninh province and only returned home during holidays, making it impossible to admit them as Party members.
In some areas, the large number of party members exempted from party activities has somewhat affected the quality of party organization activities at the grassroots level. Kim Son town has 99 party members exempted from activities, including 55 cases due to old age and poor health, and 44 cases due to working far away; Chau Kim commune has 59 party members exempted from activities, including 25 cases due to old age and poor health, and 34 cases due to working far away; Tri Le commune has 62 party members exempted from activities, including 23 party members due to old age and poor health, and 39 party members due to working far away…
Besides the difficulties arising from the trend of young workers leaving their hometowns, many village Party branch secretaries also express concern that a segment of young people remain in their hometowns to start businesses, but focus only on economic development, participate little in community activities, and show little interest in joining the Party.
Meanwhile, some individuals, despite being active, enthusiastic, and making significant contributions to social activities, do not meet the required educational standards. This leads to a situation where "old trees are dying, but new shoots are slow to grow" in some rural Party branches.
Comrade Truong Thi Tuyet Mai, Head of the Organization Department of the Que Phong District Party Committee, stated: In addition to the objective reasons mentioned above, there are also subjective reasons, stemming from the fact that a small number of Party committees and Party members have not fully understood the importance of the work of developing new Party members, and therefore have not done well in identifying, nurturing, and recommending outstanding individuals to join the Party. Some Party branches and sub-branches have not been truly decisive in directing and assigning Party members to find sources for Party development.
Furthermore, political and ideological education has not yet truly gone into depth, and in some aspects remains superficial; the forecasting and understanding of the ideological situation among Party members and the general public are sometimes not timely. Some Party branch secretaries and Party members in the area are elderly and have limited health, so their ability to grasp and lead the implementation of some assigned tasks has not been high; the leadership and guidance of political and social organizations in identifying, testing, and training members to create a pool of potential Party members is still limited.
In addition, in some cases, Party committees have not fully grasped the procedures for admitting new members, resulting in incomplete dossiers; in some exceptional cases, the verification and investigation work has not been done properly, so even though the process has been completed, the member cannot be admitted; in some places, the management and education of Party members have not been strict enough, and timely reminders and corrections have not been given, leading to violations…
Over the past period, the Standing Committee of the Que Phong District Party Committee has issued numerous directives and organized the dissemination and thorough understanding of the task of developing Party members to subordinate Party committees and organizations; considering this an important criterion for reviewing, evaluating, and classifying the quality of collective and individual leaders and Party organizations annually.
Thanks to this, from 2020 to July 2024, the Party Committee of Que Phong district admitted 542 new party members, exceeding the target set in the Resolution of the District Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term, which aimed to admit 400-500 new party members throughout the term.
However, Que Phong has a large number of Party members (the entire district Party committee has 5,494 members). If we implement Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which stipulates that the annual rate of new Party member recruitment should be between 3-4% of the total number of Party members, then the annual results of new Party member recruitment in Que Phong district still fall short of the requirement.
For example, in 2022, Que Phong district only admitted 97 new party members out of a target of 163; in 2023, it admitted 110 out of a target of 163 (achieving 67.48%); and as of the end of July 2024, the district had admitted 104 out of a target of 164 party members (achieving 63.4%).
Looking at the current situation, achieving the targets set in Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW requires significant effort from this locality. According to the latest review, 8 out of 32 grassroots Party organizations in the district have already exhausted their recruitment sources. Many commune-level Party committees are facing difficulties in recruiting new members, and some have even failed to meet their targets (as of July 30, 2024, some units have not yet admitted any new Party members or have admitted at a relatively low rate compared to the assigned targets, such as the Nam Giai Commune Party Committee (0/7), the Nam Nhoong Commune Party Committee (2/6), and the Kim Son Town Party Committee (2/20)...).
During the exchange, the leaders of the Que Phong District Party Committee's Organization Department further stated: The district has one high school and one vocational education and continuing education center with approximately 1,700 students. In recent times, the District Party Committee's Standing Committee has directed school Party branches to actively expand the pool of Party members from among students. As a result, from 2020 to June 2024, the entire district admitted 22 student Party members.
However, this result is still low and not commensurate with the number of outstanding youth union members recommended for Party membership each year. The reason is that the launching of some emulation movements in schools at certain times has not been truly effective, lacking a playground and environment for students to cultivate, train, and demonstrate their abilities, thereby identifying and nurturing potential candidates for Party membership.
Furthermore, as Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung, Vice Principal of Que Phong High School, explained: According to the Party Charter, at the time of admission consideration, the person must be at least 18 years old (calculated by month). However, since 12th-grade students graduate in July, those born from June onwards will be at a disadvantage in the admission process compared to those born from January to the end of May.
This reality leads to a significant disparity between the number of outstanding students selected to attend Party membership training courses and the number of students admitted to the Party each year. Some students who attend Party membership training courses and have a good record of dedication face many obstacles in their application process due to their background (parents having violated the law). On the other hand, due to difficult economic conditions, many students decide that after graduation they will go to work far away or become freelancers instead of pursuing higher education, so they do not have the aspiration to join the Party…
Facing numerous challenges in recruiting new Party members, Comrade Sam Van Duyet, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Que Phong District Party Committee, stated: The district Party committee has determined that admitting new Party members should not be driven by quantity, but must be carried out strictly, ensuring compliance with standards, procedures, and authority as prescribed.
Newly admitted Party members must be outstanding individuals from the masses, possessing good political qualities, impeccable morals, having been trained and tested through practical experience, having correct understanding and motivation for joining the Party, and truly contributing to building a stronger Party…