Party Prepares for Next Congress

Chairman of the Viet Nam Communist Party’s Central Commission for Organization and Personnel, Tran Dinh Hoan, discussed preparations for next year’s 10th National Congress with the Vietnam News Agency.

What is the basis for the preparations?

Politburo Instruction 46-CT/TW clearly sets out the preparations to be undertaken for the congress. Each committee’s political report must:

Review in a democratic, open and frank way the implementation of resolutions adopted at the previous congress so as to understand the lessons learned and propose measures to overcome any weaknesses – particularly those related to building the party and socio-economic development;

Sum up the history of the past five years and suggest ways to eliminate problems that have occurred during that time. Most importantly, the report should embody the wisdom of all party members with this wisdom having been gained through consultation with the people; and

Focus on these key issues: socio-economic development; poverty reduction; relations in production; national defense and security; building the Party; corruption and waste and grass roots democracy.

The political report must set out the overall goal and objectives as well as the specific targets for the next five years and contain concrete measures to achieve these targets.

The report should reiterate the determination of party members and the people to continue with Doi moi, or renewal, but in a more comprehensive way and to accelerate national construction, defense, industrialization and modernisation. We want to make our party strong and clean.

What should be the focus of discussions during the preparation of the political report?

The discussions must follow the outline contained in the draft political documents prepared for the tenth Party Congress and documents from superior Party committees.

Everyone has the right to express themselves openly and frankly during the discussions.

Opinions contributed through the Fatherland Front and other political and social organizations as well as the opinions of revolutionary veterans and scientists should be taken into special account.

The Tenth National Congress will change some party statutes. What will these changes be?

The Ninth National Congress revised some statutes but reiterated the principle of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought as the basis of our political line and the programme for national construction, advancing toward socialism and Party building.

Now lessons drawn from 20 years of Doi moi require us to make some changes to the Party’s statute’s to meet the new requirements of Party building.

These changes must not alter the Party’s principles or its building in accordance with Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought.

They should reflect the achievements of Doi moi; theoretical study and the lessons learned from Party building in the past.

High consensus for the changes will be needed from within the Party.

The changes to the statutes will:

Define the nature of Party;

Set the rules by which members can own and operate businesses;

Set the principles required for Party activities;

Adjust the rules for the introduction of new members;

Decide the procedure for alternate members of all Party committees;

Set the tenure of each committee or cell; and

Define the procedures for credential verification and monitoring and set the rules for discipline, sanction and punishment.

Viet Nam News, June 28, 2005