Recognising, preventing and repelling the internal “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”: An urgent task of the whole Party today

There have been signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” with different degrees among a number of cadres and party members. Therefore, party committees and organizations need to take stringent measures to successfully prevent and repel those manifestations  to improve the quality of their cadres and party members and  make the Party pure and strong.

“Self-evolution” and “self-transformation” is the process in which cadres and party members witness a negative trend in  their political ideology, morals and lifestyle,  gradually degrading the communists’ belief and standards . If not prevented opportunely, this would result in the  divergence from principles, the denial of Marxism–Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, the goals, revolutionary ideals and guidelines of the Party, and the State’s policies and laws. Some people even have a one-sided, simple understanding of this change and are unconscious of its consequences. Consequently, they have accidentally joined hands with the hostile forces to sabotage the Party, State and the country’s revolutionary cause. Therefore, this matter cannot be disregarded as it directly threatens the pureness, firmness, leadership, and combat power of the Party and the existence of the socialist regime. The Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) on “Strengthening Party building and rectification, preventing and  repelling degradation in political ideology, morals, lifestyle, and signs of  “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party” has pointed out 27 signs of degradation, “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, analysed and specified causes, and worked out measures for each party member to correct themselves. Thereby, positive changes have been made in the field of Party building. People’s confidence has been strengthened. The combat power of party organisations and members has been increasingly enhanced.

However, those signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”  have not been  dealt with completely but still exist in a number of cadres and party members. In particular, there have been manifestations of denying Marxism–Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought and the Party’s organising principles;  demanding “pluralism”; refuting the socialist law-governed State, and  clamouring for the “separation of powers” and the “civil society”; defaming leaders of the Party and State; asking for depoliticisation of the Military and Public Security forces, and so on. Hence, actively and opportunely recognising and clearly identifying causes to work out appropriate measures to prevent and fight “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” represent an urgent task of the Party and the whole political system. In order to achieve positive results, party committees and organizations need to adopt drastically and synchronously the measures pointed out in the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) . Accordingly, they should focus on the following issues:

First, strengthening education to make all cadres and party members deeply imbued with Marxism–Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines. Any  vagueness, or disregard of Marxism–Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought and the Party’s viewpoints, guidelines and platforms  will inevitably result in  the degradation in political ideology.  “To belittle the socialist ideology in any way, to turn aside from it in the slightest degree means to strengthen bourgeois ideology,” said Vladimir Lenin. To prevent this issue, party committees and organizations should  promote propaganda and education with the aim of making cadres and party members deeply imbued and steadfast in the ideology of the working class. The  propaganda and education process should further assert the revolutionary and scientific nature and values of Marxism–Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought to Vietnam’s revolution. It is imperative to strengthen theoretical study and practical review; develop and creatively apply Marxism–Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought to Vietnam’s reality; and perfect the system of viewpoints on socialism and the path to socialism in our country. Special importance should be attached to avoiding the risk of dogmatism and revisionism,  thereby consolidating the trust of cadres, party members and the masses in the Party’s leadership and making them steadfast in the goals of national independence and socialism.

Second,  accelerating Party building and rectification according to the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure). It can be said that  recent results of the Party building and rectification work , particularly those of the  struggle against  corruption and wastefulness with severe sentences for violations, have made considerable contribution to educating, training and  disabusing our cadres and party members. For this reason, party committees and organizations should further strengthen the work of Party building and rectification; implement synchronously and effectively the measures that have been stipulated in the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) in combination with the implementation of the Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW  (13^thtenure) on strengthening the studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morals and style. In particular, it is necessary to adhere to the regimes, routines and principles  of the Party’s activities; and improve the quality of party cells’ activities, self-criticism and criticism, and self-correction.  Where there  are signs of degradation, “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation” there should be suggestion and direction for criticism from upper levels. The exemplary role of secretaries and commanders of the units in morals, lifestyle and working style has to be enhanced to encourage  cadres, party members and the masses to follow. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the struggle against corruption and wastefulness at all levels and sectors. Besides the investigation and judgment of the unveiled cases of corruption, functional agencies should study to establish new deterrent mechanisms capable of preventing corrupt activities and “group interest”; and promote the role of the elected committees, Fatherland fronts, people’s unions, mass media, etc., in this struggle, as well as in the Party building work.

Third, strengthening the management and training of cadres and party members, especially in the realms of dignity and  lifestyle. Degradation in morals and lifestyle is the  source of degradation in  political ideology, “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Therefore, the 12^th National Party Congress has continued to affirm that building the Party in moral terms  will be part  of the task to  make the Party pure and strong. Accordingly, the whole Party needs to attach importance to fostering dignity, healthy lifestyle, diligence, thrift, integrity, uprightness, public-mindedness, and selflessness  in each cadre and party member in order to  enable them to be immune  to plots and schemes of the hostile forces and negative impacts of the market economy and international integration. Cadres and party members, first and foremost party committees, need to heighten their sense of  responsibility to the development of their plans of action for executing the Resolution of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) on Party building and rectification and the Directive 05-CT/TW of the Politburo (12^th tenure). Besides, it is necessary to align education with the management and self-management of party members, especially their relations in their residential areas to timely detect and prevent  manifestations of violation; resolutely counter the negative signs of “group interest”, opportunism, “words without matching deeds,” and  lack of self-improvement and training in political steadfastness, morals and lifestyle of cadres and party members.

Fourth,  intensifying  inspection, supervision and  implementation of the Party’s disciplinary action. According to  a report of the Central Inspection Commission released on 12 January 2018, in 2017, party committees conducted nearly 60,000 inspections of party organizations and more than 230,000 party members regarding their execution of the Party’s resolutions, directives and regulations, and the State’s policies and laws. Thereby, more than 700 party organizations and nearly 1,500 party members were found guilty, in which 22 party organizations and 350 party members were disciplined. This has asserted the importance of inspection within the Party and stressed the need for  regular inspection, supervision and  implementation of the Party’s disciplinary action. To accomplish this work successfully, party committees and organizations should grasp and adhere to  guidelines, methods and principles of inspection and supervision; build concrete plans and programs in accordance with  specific missions of each party organization, cadre and party member. The inspection and supervision should be conducted comprehensively in ideology, politics, capability, morals, lifestyle, and task performance,  especially those  holding managerial positions  at agencies and units. During the implementation process, it is necessary to promote the  integrated strength of forces and organizations; align inspection and supervision with the implementation of the Party’s disciplinary action ; resolutely punish cadres and party members with violation, ensuring timeliness, exactness, openness, transparency, and equality; and improve the quality of admitting new party members  while reviewing,  screening and expelling those who are no longer qualified from party organisations.

Recognising, preventing and repelling degradation in political ideology, morals, lifestyle, and  manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party represent a matter of special importance and an urgent task of the whole Party today. Effective implementation of the above measures will provide a firm basis for  making our Party increasingly pure and strong, capable of fulfilling its historic mission in the new situation.