Party building and rectification for the Party's survival

This spring marks the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930 - February 3, 2023) - the only organization in the political system that has held leadership power over the State and society for many years.

In his Testament, President Ho Chi Minh - the founder of the Communist Party of Vietnam wrote: "Our Party is a ruling Party... We must keep our Party truly clean, worthy of being the leader, the truly loyal servant of the people."

For a ruling Party, maintaining purity is not only a responsibility but also an imperative.

In his 1947 work "Reforming the way of working", Uncle Ho said: A Party that conceals its shortcomings is a rotten Party. A Party that has the courage to admit its shortcomings, clearly point out those shortcomings, their causes, and then seek every way to correct those shortcomings. That is a progressive, bold, steadfast, and genuine Party.

Over the years, our Party has consistently maintained the viewpoint that economic development is central, Party building is key, and finding ways to correct shortcomings within the Party. At turning points, the work of Party building and rectification is closely linked to the name of the Party's highest leader.

Former General Secretary Le Kha Phieu is considered the person who laid the first “brick” for the work of building and rectifying the Party in the new period – the period when the decline began to appear. At the 6th Central Conference (2nd time) of the 8th term (1999), with a very high spirit before the Party and the people, General Secretary Le Kha Phieu analyzed the current situation of the Party in a profound way. From this important Conference, the Central Executive Committee made a special decision to carry out the campaign of building and rectifying the Party, self-criticism and criticism.

The Resolution of the 6th Central Committee (2nd session) of the 8th tenure, issued on February 2, 1999, created a new strength and new fighting spirit to build the Party and regain the people's trust in the Party.

Over the past 10 years, the Party building and rectification work has been promoted more than ever, closely linked to the role of the "helmsman" - General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

3 consecutive terms - The 11th, 12th, and 13th Congresses all chose the 4th Central Conference as the first conference of each term to discuss Party building and rectification work.

The Resolution of the 4th Central Committee, Session XI (2011) has a pioneering nature, directly attacking the weaknesses of Party building work. These weaknesses are the result of a period when we have somewhat neglected or underinvested in Party building work, especially the work of criticism, self-criticism, inspection, supervision, fighting to prevent, detect, and handle violations within the Party, and handling degraded cadres that have not been done resolutely.

From this point on, the Party frankly pointed out that “a not small number” of cadres and Party members had degraded. Degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, violations of what Party members are not allowed to do, failure to fulfill exemplary responsibilities; falling into individualism, opportunism, profiteering; “term thinking”, corruption, negativity, violations of Party regulations and State laws…

At the 4th Conferences of the 12th and 13th Central Committees, the Party issued Resolutions and Conclusions, deepening the awareness and perception of cadres and Party members that the task of Party building cannot rest but must be done continuously. Those who have "dipped their toes" should stop soon. This has a great effect of alerting, deterring, warning and educating.

Also from these Resolutions, a series of mechanisms, policies, guidelines and measures on corruption prevention and control, and innovation in cadre management were supplemented and issued. Notably, the re-establishment of the Party Internal Affairs sector and the establishment of the Central Steering Committee on corruption prevention and control, negative practices 10 years ago. Also from here, the fight against corruption and negative practices, and the cleaning up of the Party took on a new look. Thousands of "high-profile" corruption cases were brought to light; hundreds of corrupt and degenerate cadres were appropriately punished, including those who used to be Politburo members.

The campaign to clean up the Party, initiated and directly led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong over the past 10 years, has left special marks, and has been supported by the people at home and highly appreciated by international friends. “Fighting corruption has no forbidden zones and no exceptions” - the General Secretary’s words have become reality.

For the survival of the Party, there is no other choice but to focus on building and rectifying the Party, despite difficulties and many obstacles. Although the task of economic development is central, if the Party is not built, economic achievements can be ruined by degradation, corruption and negativity.

In the world, there are few parties that have been in power as long as the Communist Party of Vietnam. A ruling party often faces two major dangers: mistakes in policies and bureaucracy, degeneration, and distance from the people. Bureaucracy, degeneration, and distance from the people will lead to the risk of the Party losing its leadership and collapsing. The lesson of the degeneration of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is still valuable to us today./.