Never before has the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, the Political Bureau, and the Secretariat strived to work hard on personnel work for the country’s top leadership as they are at present ahead of the upcoming 13th National Party Congress. 

The Party Central Committee attaches great importance to the personnel
work for the country's future leadership. 

Personnel remains a matter of great concern for every National Party Congress, requiring careful preparation in order to ensure the success of the congress and ultimately to see resolutions adopted by the congress be a success.

The Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the General Secretary and State President have repeatedly emphasised the need to choose a contingent of leaders who can be considered truly worthy of the Party’s ruling role and who will not damage the party’s reputation.

General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong has pointed out that it is key to build “a truly united, purely clean and strong Party Central Committee that is unanimous in will and action, represents the entire Party and is closely attached to the people. That committee must gather solidarity and unity within the entire Party and among the people, while having sufficient reputation and competency to lead the country in the new stage of development.”

The Party chief added, “Each member of the Party Central Committee must be those who represent the party in terms of political courage, ethical qualities and working capacity. They must have both virtue and talent, in which virtue is the main root.”

Reality reveals bitter lessons which have been drawn from personnel work over the years. Although the Party has issued a number of resolutions and directives aimed at tightening principles within the Party, wrongdoings have also been detected within the ranks of various officials.

Statistics indicate that over 110 officials, including Politburo and Party Central Committee members, ministers along with ministerial-level figures, have been disciplined over the past five years throughout the 12th term. Indeed, many of them were accused of taking advantage of their power and utilising legal loopholes for the purpose of embezzling State funds for personal gain. Some were even charged with criminal offences due to their involvement in notorious graft scandals which caused significant losses to the State’s finances.  

Local citizens are happy that these notorious graft scandals were eventually brought to light, with many having plenty of confidence in the Party’s determination to clean up acts of corruption. Despite these efforts, many people remain concerned about the process of appointing officials to State agencies. Many ponder if the appointment or election of candidates to important positions will lead to a repeat of previous graft scandals.

Learning from these lessons, the Party Central Committee, Political Bureau, and Secretariat have strived to devise personnel work ahead of the 13th Party Congress. For the first time in history, the Politburo has established a Steering Committee aimed at drawing up the plans for strategic-level cadres for the 2021 to 2026 term, headed by General Secretary Trong.

The planning stage has been carried out in a thorough manner to ensure democracy, openness, objectivity, and transparency. It has been done in five steps as opposed to the previous three steps as a means of selecting truly virtuous and competent candidates to the Party and State ranks.

General Secretary Trong has indicated that it would be a disaster for the Party if those with poor qualities are elected as they will only harm the nation.

The Party Central Committee in its recently concluded 15th conference has adopted a list of key candidates which will be submitted to the upcoming 13th National Party Congress. Among them four individuals will be introduced to the posts of the Party General Secretary, State President, Prime Minister, and National Assembly Chairperson.

The officials, Party members, and citizens expect the congress will elect a strong, united, and qualified Party Central Committee for the 13th tenure that is fully capable of leading the Vietnamese revolutionary cause in a new stage of development, thereby meeting expectations of the entire Party and people.