Is the single-party regime hindering the country’s development?

 The hostile forces always claim that “the single-party regime is hindering the country’s development.” However, this is only a defective version of the call for pluralism and a multi-party regime in Vietnam. Their ultimate goal is to deny and gradually remove the unique leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam over the Vietnamese State and society.

This is an extremely dangerous argument as it deliberately equates the choice between a single-party or multi-party regime with the development of our country. Is the single-party regime hindering the country’s development? Up to now, there has not been any scientific answer to this question yet. In fact, the development of a country is not dependent on the number of political parties. It depends on many other factors, such as production, natural condition, and population. In the countries with only one ruling party, they still ensure democracy and become wealthy, while many multi-party nations are under-developed together with poor democracy. It is clear for us to see that a single-party regime is not an obstacle to a country’s development and that a multi-party regime does not facilitate the development. Politically, the problem here is the nature of political parties, the political ideal which they are pursuing, and the social interests which they are representing and protecting. Moreover, it is their prestige and ability to gather and lead social forces for realising their countries’ common goal.

In a country with only one ruling party, there are two possibilities that should be taken into account. Firstly, if that ruling party has its own benefits, there should be other parties within that country’s political system. Secondly, if that ruling party does not have its own interests, a multi-party regime will easily lead to factionalism or division.

Currently, in Vietnam, the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only ruling party which is exercising its leadership over the State and society. What has the Communist Party of Vietnam done to avoid falling into dictatorship or hindering the country’s development? To answer this question, we should analyse several issues as follows.

First, the goal of the Communist Party of Vietnam is to lead our country to the development and prosperity. The Party’s Charter has stated that “the Communist Party of Vietnam is the vanguard of the Vietnamese labouring people and nation; it is the loyal representative of the benefits of the working class, the labouring people, and the nation.” The Communist Party of Vietnam has no other interests than those of the nation. The nature of the Party is the harmonious relationship between the class-ness, the people-ness, and the nation-ness, which enables the Party to be really respected, trusted and called “our Party” by the people. During its process of leadership over the Vietnamese revolution, our Party’s consistent goal is “wealthy people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation.”

Second, our Party has found out Vietnam’s development orientations and directly led revolutions to develop our country. In the 1920s, the Vietnamese revolution fell into a stalemate. At that dark moment, the Communist Party of Vietnam was founded and showed the only right way to liberate the people. According to the Party’s first Political Platform (October 1930), initially Vietnam would conduct a bourgeois revolution of civil rights and then move straight to socialism without a preceding capitalist stage. The revolution’s two strategic missions of defeating imperialism and toppling feudalism would be in a close relationship with each other. With those sound guidelines and strategies, the Party led our people to successfully carry out the August Revolution in 1945, overthrowing the yoke of colonialism and feudalism, establishing the first democratic State in Southeast Asia, opening up a new era of independence and freedom in the Vietnamese history. However, immediately after its inception, the fledgling revolutionary government was confronted with a series of greatest threats and challenges of ever. Our Party and President Ho Chi Minh opportunely developed and implemented effective strategies to respond to such challenges, build a new regime, and bring our revolution forward.

After our people’s victory in the resistance war against the French and the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided into two regions with two different regimes. While the North was completely liberated (October 10^th, 1954) and entered the transitional period towards socialism, in the South, the U.S. took place of France and put Ngo Dinh Diem to power, with a conspiracy to divide Vietnam permanently and turned the South into a new-style colony and military base of America. The task of the Vietnamese revolution set by our Party at that time was to simultaneously carry out the two revolutionary strategies in the two regions, namely a socialist revolution in the North and a people’s democratic revolution in the South, for the sake of peace and reunification. With the victory of the Ho Chi Minh campaign, we ended the 21-years resistance war against the U.S., for national salvation and 30 years of national liberation and protection (1945-1975), abolished the yoke of imperialism, accomplished the people’s democratic revolution across the country, reunified the Homeland, and opened up a new era of independence, unification, and socialism. After the country was unified, we had to face numerous difficulties. At that time, our Party led the people to revive the economy and conduct two national border protection wars in the North and the Southwest to defend the national sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity, while focusing on building socialist material resources, gradually forming a new economic system across the country, and improving the people’s mental and material life.

However, the long-term maintenance of a centrally planned economy together with subsidisation and bureaucracy was no longer appropriate and exposed shortcomings. The formulation and implementation of the guidelines for a socialist revolution were subjective or inflexible in some places. That was one of the reasons for the socio-economic crisis in the early stage of our revolution towards socialism. Against that backdrop, the 6^th National Party Congress (December 1986) introduced the policy for a comprehensive national reform, marking an important turning point in the construction and defence of our socialist Homeland.

Third, our country has obtained remarkable achievements and it keeps developing under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Over the past 35 years of national renewal initiated and led by the Party, with the effort made by the entire Party, people and Military, our country has gained tremendous success of historical significance with the comprehensive, rapid development. Our socio-economic development has been very impressive and taken place in most of the fields. Economic growth has been maintained at a rather high rate. We have achieved a number of encouraging results in the renewal of our growth model, the economic restructuring, and the execution of our three strategic breakthroughs. The socialist-oriented market economy has been gradually established sufficiently. Education and training have been renewed and actively contributed to developing human resources. Many modern constructions have been put into use. Social and cultural fields have continued to be developed, while the people’s mental and material life has been considerably improved. The rate of poverty has been sharply reduced, which has been internationally appreciated. Social security and welfare have been enhanced step by step. Importance has been attached to managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and responding to climate change. National defence and security have been consolidated. Due attention has been paid to resolutely, persistently fighting to defend national independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity, protect the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime as well as ensure social safety and order. Foreign relations and international integration have been increasingly promoted. We have maintained a peaceful and stable environment for the country’s development. Vietnam’s status and prestige have continued to be raised in the international arena. The great national unity block has been cemented while socialist democracy has been encouraged. We have made progress in the building of a rule-of-law socialist State and it has operated more effectively. Legislative, executive, and judicial bodies have continued to be perfected. The studying and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle have become a mission and duty of all party organisations, offices, units, cadres, party members, and citizens. Never has our country gained such potential, status, and prestige like today. This is a pride and an important incentive for the entire Party, people and Military to surmount all difficulties and challenges and firmly step towards the country’s rapid and sustainable development. The 13th National Party Congress has set the theme: “Strengthening the building and rectification of the Party and the political system into purity and strength; rousing the will and determination for national development and promoting the strength of the great national unity block in combination with the power of the times; continuing to comprehensively and synchronously accelerate the cause of reform; constructing and firmly safeguarding the Homeland and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; and striving to turn Vietnam into a developed, socialist-oriented nation by the middle of the 21st century.” Those are major directions, motivations, and goals of the country’s development, while serving as the central missions of the whole Party, people, and Military in the 2021-2026 tenure and following years.

It is a fact that over the past 91 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, our country has been revived. From a semi-feudal, poor, backward colony without a name on the world map, Vietnam has risen up and gradually kept pace with the times. With such impressive achievements and its capacity, morality, and prestige, at present and in the future, our Party will still be the only leader of our people. That is a pride and a great responsibility of the Party before the people and the nation. Therefore, the Communist Party of Vietnam will not relinquish its unique leadership over our country and society. The people of Vietnam do not need or accept a multi-party regime as the hostile forces are claiming.