Enhancing the building and rectification of the Party, resolutely preventing and curbing ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation

NDO—The fourth plenum of the twelfth Party Central Committee has adopted a resolution on enhancing the building and rectification of the Party and preventing and curbing ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation, as well as the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” inside the Party.

The fourth plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee (Photo: VNA)
The fourth plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee (Photo: VNA)

The issuance of this important resolution once again affirmed the political will of the entire Party to resolutely and tenaciously fight against ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation in order to build a clean and strong Party, worthy of being the vanguard force that leads the State and society, as well as meeting the expectations of the people.

Over the past 86 years, thanks to the sound, ingenious and determined leadership of the Party, Vietnam has seen numerous achievements of historic significance, bringing Vietnamese people from a state of slavery to become citizens of an independent state who can decide their own destiny, consistently pursuing the goal of building a strong nation and a wealthy people in a democratic, just and civilised society. History has proven that the righteous revolutionary leadership of the Party was the crucial factor in every victory of the Vietnamese revolution, which has helped the country to achieve its current position on the international arena today. The Vietnamese people have always been proud of the good nature and heroic and glorious history of the Party—a revolutionary and genuine Party with a scientific orientation. Despite achievements in the work of building the Party, this work has been hindered by several limitations and shortcomings. The degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle of a number of cadres and Party members, as well as red tape, corruption and wastefulness, has not been entirely removed. The situation in some places is even more complicated, with the involvement of several officials and Party members who are holding important positions in the State apparatus.

Determined that Party-building is a key task, the Party has been rectifying itself in order to improve its leadership and capacity for struggle to fulfil its great historic mission. In several recent terms, especially at the Twelfth National Congress, the Party continued to acknowledge the importance of preventing and curbing ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation, as well as the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” inside the Party. The Party has created important positive changes during its implementation of Resolution No. 4 of the eleventh Party Central Committee on urgent issues in Party-building; however, some targets have not been reached. Corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena are still taking place in a serious and developed manner, which diminish the people’s trust in the Party and the régime. At the same time, the trend of globalisation and international integration is more and more complicated, having a strong impact on cadres and Party members in many areas. The negative effects of the market economy, the temptations of daily life, the ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation, as well as the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” are present every day and every hour.

The issuance of the Resolution on enhancing the building and rectification of the Party at the fourth plenum of the twelfth Party Central Committee is derived from the urgent and objective requirement of the task of national construction and defence. Looking straight at the truth, speaking the truth and precisely assessing the truth, the resolution pointed out in a systematic manner several manifestations of ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation that lead to “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” which are directly threatening the survival of the Party and the régime.

In order to realise the resolution, it is necessary to get the whole political apparatus involved. This is not only an urgent and frequent task for each Party committee, but also the responsibility of sociopolitical organisations, the members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and people from all walks of life. The overall goal is to fully and comprehensively identify the issue and set out specific measures to fight, prevent and effectively curb ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation, as well as the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” inside the Party and to overcome weaknesses in personnel work, building a contingent of cadres and Party members, especially leading cadres, managers and heads with firm political consciousness, high responsibility and righteous motivation to act as role models who always put the interests of the collective, the nation and the people over the interests of individuals, wholeheartedly serving the people and the Fatherland. Meanwhile, the building and rectification of the Party aims to strengthen solidarity and unity, enhance the Party’s leadership, strengthen the consensus among the people, maintain the principles and discipline of the Party, actively fight to defeat all “peaceful evolution” schemes and plots by the enemy and hostile forces and prevent bad elements from taking advantage of the situation to distort and disunite the Party.

The task of implementing Resolution No. 4 of the Twelfth Party Central Committee is both urgent and long-term and requires the appropriate coordination between “construction” and “fighting.” “Construction” is the basic duty and long-term strategy while “fighting” is an important, urgent and breakthrough mission on the principle of maintaining political stability for the national development. It is also necessary to enhance the building and rectification of the Party at the same time to successfully implement the resolutions of Party congresses at all levels and the resolution of the twelfth National Party Congress. In addition, more should be done to revise and perfect mechanisms and policies, especially the mechanism to control the exercise of power by persons holding key positions. There should be strict sanctions for violations in order to prevent and handle thoroughly, openly and lawfully cases related to corruption and other negative phenomena. It is essential to enhance the inspection, supervision and discipline of the Party, as well as to promote the supervisory and critical role of sociopolitical organisations and people during the building and implementation process of policies, and to detect and prevent signs of violations in a timely manner. In the short term, serious and complicated corruption cases which have caused discontent among the people and society must be thoroughly handled.

With a high sense of responsibility and sentiment for the Party and the people, the whole Party, each official and Party member should turn ideas into revolutionary will and action through specific and practical work, considering the implementation of the resolution as a driving force in their daily work. Party cells also need to be more innovative in devising plans for work and ways of operating, and seriously implement Resolution No. 4 on enhancing the building and rectification of the Party and the Politburo’s Directive 05 on strengthening the study of and adherence to the thought, morals and style of President Ho Chi Minh and strictly implement criticism and self-criticism in order to specify and prevent the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” in a timely manner. Party committees at all levels, especially heads of committees, agencies and units must strictly carry out their responsibilities to set good examples.

More than ever, the entire Party, from the Central Committee to local Party cells, from the senior leaders of the Party and State to rank-and-file officials and Party members, firmly believe in the Party, striving to uphold their will and take action, determined to fight to prevent and curb ideological, ethical and lifestyle degradation, as well as the manifestation of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” in order to keep the Party strong and clean, worthy of the pride and trust of the people.