Keyword:  contents, modes and methods to protect the ideological foundation of the Party; fight and prevent wrongful and hostile views.

The Party asserts: “The Party takes Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought as the ideological foundation and guideline for action”(1). Thus, having a deep comprehension of the content and providing diverse, suitable, and effective modes and methods to protect the ideological foundation of the Party and fight against wrongful and hostile views are important and vital issues of building and rectifying the Party, as well as among the most important tasks of the whole Party, army, and people today.

1. Contents, modes and methods to protect the ideological foundation of the Party

To protect the ideological foundation of the Party means to defend Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, to learn, to study, to promote, to develop, to popularize the everlasting values of Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought widely, and to ensure the decisive and universal role of Marxism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in the spiritual life of society. Some of the following methods and contents should be done well so as to protect Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought which are the ideological foundation of the Party:

First, studying Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought deeply and comprehensively, pointing out the core and theoretical values with everlasting vitality, most important of which are the worldview, life view, scientific methodology, revolution of the dialectical materialism, historical materialism, theory of surplus value, theory of socio–economic forms, theories of building a ruling communist party and a socialist state, theories of building socialism and communism, thoughts on national independence in association with socialism, and thoughts on national unity, comprehensive liberation, and development for people.

Second, continuously summarizing practice, supplementing, developing the theory of Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, renovating theoretical thinking, and providing newer vitality for Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in the new context. It is imperative to base on practice, respecting, and acting in accordance with objective rule without conservatism, dogmatism, and voluntarism to hastily skip phases. Always respecting and promoting people’s ownership. Putting people and their interest, welfare in the process of planning and enforcing the lines and policies of the Party and State. Being really imbued with the advice of Uncle Ho: “Our Party has no other interest but those of the class, people, and nation”(2), “What is beneficial to the people must be done wholeheartedly; what is detrimental to them should be avoided”(3). Taking the culture and people as the development goal and motivation. Doing so, we can win over the people’s heart in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party and fighting against wrongful and hostile views.

Third, promoting the works of communicating, educating, learning, and popularizing Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought to the cadres, party members and people. Continuously studying, renovating the contents, modes and methods of communication and education to fit specific subjects, ensure quality and practical effects, make the cadres, Party members, and people understand the theoretical values and methodology of Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, believe, then follow the ideology and guidelines (Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought), views, lines of the Party, policies, laws of the State, unite, and join hands to build a Vietnam of “rich people, strong country, democracy, justice, and civilization”(4).

Fourth, analyzing and proving the creative application and development of Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought of the Party in the cause to struggle, liberate the people, and build socialism, especially the great achievements with historical meaning(5) of the country after 35 years of renovation. This helps the cadres, party members, and people believe in Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, the leadership of the Party, and the path to socialism that Uncle Ho, the Party, and people have chosen. The successes and victories of the revolution in the country under the leadership of the Party are the liveliest proofs of the correctness and reality of Marxism -Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in the country.

Fifthly, handling the violations, mistakes, manifestations of “self-evolution”, “self-transformation”, bureaucracy, corruption, wastefulness, factionalism, and inside negative “interest groups” in a timely and strict manner. The deterioration, corruption, and violation of the discipline of the Party and the laws of the State of a not so small number of cadres and Party members, including middle and high-level ones, have had serious consequences, undermining the confidence of the people in the leadership of the Party and the path to socialism in the country. If they are not settled in a timely and strict manner, they are fertile land for hostile forces to sabotage the ideological foundation of the Party, the State, and the revolutionary cause of the Party and people. Thus, struggling to protect the ideological foundation of the Party must be accompanied with making timely and effective settlements and handling of corruption – one of the most serious risks threatening the survival of the regime. Effective prevention of and combat against corruption must be considered the most convincing evidence to protect the ideological foundation of the Party today.

2. The content, modes and methods to combat incorrect and hostile views in the ideological field

Protecting and developing Marxism – Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in the current context have close connection with the fight against the wrongful and hostile views which deny the scientific and revolutionary values of Marxism – Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the path to socialism, as well as expose the conspiracies, tricks, methods, and more used by hostile forces to sabotage the revolution of the country. On that basis, studying and proposing appropriate and effective approaches and methods are required to fight against wrongful and hostile views.

First, the leadership and instruction of the executive committee, the Party organization, the coordination of the appropriate organizations and agencies in fighting and rejecting wrongful and hostile views should be enhanced. This is one of the most important solutions today. Accordingly, the executive committees and Party organizations at all levels, especially key leaders and managers, must grasp the ideological foundation and line of the Party, and the policy and law of the State, while being on guard for the appearance of wrongful and hostile views to provide close and proper leading and instructing mottos and measures, raise the quality and effect of the work of fighting and overcoming the weak phases and aspects, and allow no unexpected, puzzled, and passive situation.

Second, the Party must fight to protect the ideological foundation of the Party, which includes not only the standing committees but also the whole political system: central branches, executive committees, local governments, and all the people. Thus, the aggregate strength can be created to fight against wrongful and hostile views effectively. The quality of press meetings should be maintained and done well to reflect our current situation, including exchanges of information, agreements on coordinating measures to fight against incorrect and hostile views, prevention of conspiracies and actions to establish, contact, and gather forces with a view to conducting a “peaceful evolution”, riots, or other forms of subversion, we must manage and fight against opportunistic and dissatisfied elements whose desires are to stimulate, oppose, and divide the Party and the great national unity bloc.

Third, it is necessary to provide diverse and effective approaches and methods in the fight against incorrect and hostile views. Fighting against incorrect and hostile views in terms of ideology does not mean implementation by order, administration, subjectivism, voluntarism, and imposition, but a process to analyze and fight with arguments, on a ideological basis and with practices which are objective and convincing. The content and methods of combating information should be diverse and suitable for the level, psychology, aspiration, demand, and interest to benefit information of each specific topic. On that basis, the people’s will can be gathered, and the thinking and actions of the cadres, Party members, and people can be unified in order to remove, deny the incorrect, and assert the right and truth of Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought - the ideological foundation of the Party.

Fourth, using technical, technological, and legal measures to handle organizations and individuals who provide information and communication services with bad, harmful, wrongful, and distorted content which deny the scientific and revolutionary values of Marxism - Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and distort the line and guideline of the Party, policies, the laws of the State, slander, distort, blacken leaders of the Party and State, etc., in a timely, decisive, and effective manner. Thus, we must supply official information from responsible agencies, organizations, and individuals in time to stay ahead and orient social opinion, maintain the belief of the cadres, party members, and people. Every cadre, party member, and person must also become soldiers in the front against wrongful and hostile allegations. It is practically proved that although the hostile forces use every possible means of sabotage, they cannot win if we know how to rely on the people, be active in providing information, and orient social opinion in an objective, timely, and transparent manner. To provide cadres, party members, and people with official, accurate, and full information means that we are building an immune system for every citizen and the whole society so that they are resistant to the information fabricated and distorted by hostile and reactionary forces.

Fifth, mass information systems play a key role in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party and fighting against wrongful and hostile views in the current situation. Thus, it is important to appreciate the guarantee of objective and true information as well as the ideological and combat nature of the mass information system. Each press and media agency, and each cadre, reporter, and editor, must strictly follow the principles and goals of their organizations and constantly improve the political, legal, social, and civilian responsibilities. It is necessary to post good and positive information, examples of good people and deeds, and outstanding people that represent the values and goals chosen by the Party and people. A mechanism is required to ensure the right to access the information of the people, especially information related to policy making and enforcing issues such as development planning, land, ethnic people, religion, political security, social order and safety, etc. Press planning decided by the authorized level of the Party and Government must be seriously implemented.

3. Some experiences

Through the practice of protecting the ideological foundation of the Party and fighting against wrongful and hostile views in the ideological field, the following initial experiences are drawn:

(1) Protecting the ideological foundation of the Party in parallel with fighting against and rejecting wrongful and hostile views. Protecting the ideological foundation of the Party is the “building” task and establishment of the ideological foundation and revolutionary, advanced, and healthy spirit in society. Fighting against and rejecting wrongful and hostile views are the “fighting” task. Among them, “building” is the main task, and “fighting” is an important, urgent, and regular task.

(2) It is necessary to have deep comprehension of the highly harmful nature of incorrect and hostile views; on this basis, the leadership and instruction of the Party committees, especially the leadership for this work, are enhanced. It is important to distinguish people having incorrect and hostile views from those with misunderstanding and one-sided awareness and those who have critical and unproductive comments to have suitable methods to approach and fight.

(3) It is necessary to organize, mobilize, and encourage the combined strength of the political system, promote the core role of the agencies of communication, ideology, education, training, press, publication, security, national defense, etc. The pioneering roles of the scientists, intellectuals, journalists, artists, lecturers, reporters, speakers, etc., are promoted to participate in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party and fight against wrongful and hostile views.

(4) Diversifying the forms of ideological protection and fighting in the operations of the educational and training institutions, especially the educational institutions of the Party and the socio-political organizations, on the mass information system, the Internet, blogs and meetings, direct and face-to-face dialogue, etc. Improving scientific quality, combativeness, effectiveness, and persuasiveness of the articles against wrongful and hostile views.

(5) Enhancing the pioneering and exemplary role of cadres and party members in implementing the regulations of the Party and law of the State, especially in speech discipline and in implementation of what a party member is not allowed to do. The exemplariness of the cadres and party members is essential content in protecting the ideological foundation of the Party effectively and fighting against wrongful and hostile views.

(6) Further promoting the building and rectification of the Party, decisively removing political opportunists whose words and actions are far from the ideological foundation of the Party from the Party, boosting the prevention and fight against corruption, negative phenomena, and “interest groups” with the spirit of “no forbidden zone, no exception”. Increasingly fighting to defeat all the conspiracies and “peaceful evolution” operations of the hostile forces; actively preventing and rejecting the distorted, wrongful, hostile information and views(6) and the internal manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”.

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Endnotes:

(1) CPV: The Program to build the country in the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) - Document of the 11th National Congress, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.88.

(2) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, vol.12, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.402.

(3) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, vol.4, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.51.

(4), (5), (6) CPV: Document of the 12th National Congress, Office of the Party Central Committee, Hanoi, 2016, p.16, 16, 201.

References:

1. CPV: Resolution No. 35-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building the ideological foundation of the Party, fighting against, and rejecting the wrongful and hostile views in the new situation.

2. Hoang Chi Bao: The sustainable values and vitality of Marxism - Leninism and scientific socialism, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 2012.

3. Central Theoretical Council: Criticism of the wrongful and hostile views which distort the fight against the deterioration in political thought and the manifestations of “self-evolution”, “self-transformation” in politics in the Party, National Political Publishing House Hanoi, 2017.

4. Le Huu Nghia: The fight against wrongful and hostile views – an important and urgent task of the current ideological and theoretical work, Journal of Political Theory, Issue May 2017

5. Nguyen Huy Hieu and Tran Nam Chuan: Increasingly protecting the ideological foundation of the Party, fighting and rejecting the wrongful and hostile views in the new situation, Tuyengiao.vn, December 6th, 2019.

Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Duy Bac

Vice President of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics