On the relationship between the ruling party and the rule of law state

(Baonghean) - In the Conclusion of the 7th Conference of the Party Central Committee (11th tenure) "Some issues on continuing to innovate and perfect the political system from the Central to the grassroots level", the viewpoint was stated: "Perfecting the organization and apparatus of the political system in the conditions of a single ruling party, building a socialist rule-of-law state, a socialist-oriented market economy, and international integration is an extremely important and complicated task. We must do it while learning from experience to adjust, supplement, and perfect it".

From that perspective, an issue that needs to be recognized is the relationship between the ruling party and the rule of law state. The fundamental problem of the ruling party is to control the state apparatus, the fundamental principle of the rule of law state is to manage society according to the law. There is a unified relationship between the ruling party and the rule of law state on the same legal system. The party does not act on behalf of the state but through direction, inspection and supervision so that the state properly implements the law. In each agency, unit and locality, the Party Committee does not act on behalf of the government but through direction, inspection and supervision so that the government strictly implements the law. That is the leadership principle of the ruling party over the rule of law state.

The conclusion of the 7th Central Conference also stated: "Many issues regarding the content and leadership methods of the ruling party, the organization and operation of the socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people, for the people, and the people's right to mastery have not yet been clarified." This is the reason why in some places there is no clear distinction between the leadership role of the Party Committee and the state management function of the government, leading to violations of the principle of democratic centralism.

Within each locality and unit, the relationship between the ruling party and the rule of law state is reflected in the relationship between the Party Committee and the government at the same level. Regarding this relationship, there are currently two trends that need to be overcome: in some places, the Party Committee has loosened its leadership over the government, and does not regularly inspect and supervise, leading to the government making mistakes in policies and even violating the law; on the contrary, in some places, the Party Committee has deeply intervened in the work of the government or acted on behalf of the government, violating the principles of state management.

A specific requirement for innovation and improvement of the political system at the grassroots level is to determine the relationship between the Party Committee and the government according to the principle of "Party leadership, State management, people mastery". With the role of the ruling party, the Party Committee must have policies and resolutions to solve specific local problems, and direct the government to seriously, legally and effectively implement them. With the principle of the rule of law state, local governments, while implementing the policies and resolutions of the Party Committee, must comply with the provisions of the law. Policies and resolutions of the Party Committee must be specified by the government through state management regulations with goals and targets of a legal nature.

In performing tasks, the attitude and leadership methods of the leader have a direct impact on the relationship between the Party Committee and the government. There are officials elected to the Party Committee to be assigned the responsibility of leading the government apparatus, but when holding state power, they have disregarded the Party Committee, even failing to strictly implement the Party Committee's policies and resolutions. There are Party Committee secretaries who have used the Party's "power" to control the government's work, directly arranging positions in the administrative apparatus, causing resentment among officials and civil servants. If these practices are not stopped, they will weaken the political system at the grassroots level.

The relationship between the ruling party and the rule of law state is not only a theoretical issue but also a practical issue. To innovate and perfect the political system at the grassroots level, the first issue is to properly resolve the relationship between the Party Committee and the government, in which the Party Committee must properly perform the role of the ruling party, and the government must properly perform the functions of the rule of law state.

Tran Hong Co