Le Thanh Long, Ph.D. In courtesy of Tap chi Cong San (Communist Review)
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| On January 1, 1960, President Ho Chi Minh signs the Decree promulgating the new Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam__Photo: VNA |
The core principles of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law
Ho Chi Minh’s ideology is the result of a process of creatively applying and developing Marxism-Leninism in the practical conditions of Vietnam, inheriting and developing the fine traditions of the nation and absorbing the cultural quintessence of mankind. Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law is a system of viewpoints on the nature, role and function of the state and law, on the requirements for the organization and operation of the state apparatus, lawmaking and enforcement, training and fostering a contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees, and for preventing and combating corruption, negative phenomena, red tape and wastefulness. This ideology is specifically manifested in the following theoretical points:
Taking people as the roots - the most important theoretical point in Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law
Inheriting great lessons drawn from the thousands-year-old history of construction and defense of the Vietnamese nation, President Ho Chi Minh held that “Under the sky, nothing is more precious than the people. In the world, nothing is stronger than the united force of the people.”[1] Right in its first article, the 1946 Constitution, the drafting of which he personally led, affirmed: “Vietnam is a Democratic Republic. All national powers belong to the entire Vietnamese people, regardless of race, gender, economic conditions, social class, and religion”[2]. “People are the root,” everything originates from the people, and whether something can be accomplished or not also depend on the people. Without people, there will never be revolutionary forces and revolutionary movements. Red tape and harassment not only demonstrate the distance and separation from the people, failing to understand the people and failing to carry out the noble revolutionary cause, but also make the people disbelieve in the Party and the regime. If we truly wish to take the people as the root and be close to them, we “must try hard to do what benefits and avoid what harms the people… In short, if we wish to be loved by people, to win the hearts of the people, we must, first of all, love them; we must place the people’s interests above all and possess the spirit of public-mindedness and selflessness.”[3]
Building a state truly of the people, by the people, and for the people, based on a democratic Constitution and laws under the Communist Party’s leadership, is central to Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law.
He affirmed: “Ours is a democratic country. All interests are for the people. All powers belong to the people…. The administrations from communes to the central government are all elected by the people. In short, powers and forces are all in the people.”[4]
“We must understand that all government agencies, from the national level down to villages, are servants of the people, meaning they are there to common tasks for the people, not lord over them.”[5]
“People are masters, then the president, ministers, deputy ministers, and other officials are servants of the people, not the revolutionary mandarins.”[6]
The state that President Ho Chi Minh wished to build undertakes the role of shouldering “common tasks for the people,” caring for the people’s life and happiness.
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| President Ho Chi Minh with children__Photo: VNA |
He once affirmed: “We have gained freedom and independence, but if people still die of hunger and cold, then such freedom and independence are meaningless. People clearly understand the value of freedom and independence only when they have enough food to eat and clothing to wear. We must immediately: (i) provide food; (ii) provide clothing; (iii) provide shelter; and (iv) provide education for the people. These are the general objectives we must attain.”[7]
The state that President Ho Chi Minh wished to build is also a state led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, as he said: “Although the people have held the power, the class struggle in the country and the imperialist invasion attempts still exist. Since we must build the economy, defense, society and culture, the Party must organize, lead and educate the masses so as to lead the laboring people to the final victory.”[8]
The Party’s leadership aims to ensure that our state is always really of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Organization of a distinctive, strong and transparent state apparatus
Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law is demonstrated in the regulations on the organization of the state machinery. He personally led and directed the design of a distinctive state apparatus model as reflected in the contents of various constitutions, orders, and laws during his lifetime.
The 1946 Constitution bore the deep imprints of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, being “a model constitution in many aspects.”[9] It was designed under the ideology of democracy and rule of law, creating the principles and modes of organization and operation of the state apparatus to prevent the abuse of power while ensuring that the democratic freedoms of the people were recognized, respected, and guaranteed. The state apparatus comprised such basic components as the National Assembly, the State President, the Government, the People’s Court and the local administrations, organized on the principle of “Uniting the entire population… Ensuring democratic freedoms… Building a strong and clear-sighted administration of the people,”[10] as seen in the preamble of the 1946 Constitution.
For individual components of the state apparatus, President Ho Chi Minh specifically guided the organization and operation of these components, ensuring they reflected the nature of a state of the people, by the people, and for the people. As a result, the National Assembly was then called the People’s Parliament as the supreme state power of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Article 22), handling all national affairs, the Government as the “highest executive body of the entire country” (Article 43). Courts were also governed by the principle that “judges only abide by law, without intervention by other agencies” (Article 60).
Under the 1946 Constitution, a clear-cut division of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches was established, with cross control of powers among these bodies. For local administrations, President Ho Chi Minh attached importance to designing the local administration model, taking into account the differences between rural and urban areas.[11]
Building a contingent of cadres in the state apparatus who place the Party’s interests above all, are loyal to the country, and are dutiful to the people
According to Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, “cadres are the stems of all activities, which succeed or fail depending on whether the cadres are good or bad.”[12]
Therefore, President Ho Chi Minh attached special importance to personnel work, imposing high requirements on cadres, civil servants and public employees in the state apparatus, including the top criteria: “to be loyal to the country, dutiful to the people”, “placing the interests of the Party, the nation, and the Fatherland above all.”
For each specific domain, he recommended particular criteria for cadres working in that domain. For people-elected bodies, President Ho Chi Minh held that those who represent the people must be “talented and virtuous persons, worthy representatives of the people. Those who were elected must do their best to maintain the national independence and care for the happiness of the compatriots.” With regard to the People’s Courts, cadres must be “fair, upright and clean, close to the people, understand the people, assist the people, and learn from the people.” For the People’s Procuracies, “cadres must be just and enlightened, straightforward, objective, prudent, and modest.”
President Ho Chi Minh also gave specific instructions on the training and employment of cadres, not employing “relatives, friends, sycophants, or time-servers.”[13]
Preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness and red tape in the organization and operation of the state apparatus
Through his speeches and writings, President Ho Chi Minh considered corruption, wastefulness and red tape as the “internal enemies, allies of colonialists and feudalists, and enemies of the people, the army, and the Government, which must be completely eliminated”[14] from the organization and operation of the state machinery.
Building and improving the legal system and organizing strict law enforcement
President Ho Chi Minh attached special importance to developing and refining the system of laws and organizing strict enforcement.[15] He held that laws were necessary instruments for the protection of the people’s interests[16] and the maintenance of social order, which should be better and more democratic. To him, laws should contain the values of justice, humanity for the laboring people and humans as enshrined in the Constitution and laws. Laws should be made to ensure that people enjoy freedom and an abundant, happy life. Laws should also be made through democratic means with broad inputs from the people, ensuring high feasibility and conformity with the practical national conditions.
In addition, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on the state and law also contains very distinctive standpoints on the control of state powers, defense of the Constitution, protection of human rights, children’s rights, on the relationship between law and morality, and standpoints on the law regulating religious activities.-
[1] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, vol. 10, p. 453.
[2] The Constitutions of Vietnam through Historical Periods (the Constitutions of 1946, 1959, 1980, 1992, and 2013), National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2019, p. 8.
[3] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 51-52.
[4] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 6, pp. 232
[5] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 64-65
[6] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 10, pp. 572
[7] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 175
[8] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 8, pp. 274
[9] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 51–52
[10] Thai Vinh Thang: The Constitutional History of Vietnam, Truth National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1997, p. 26.
[11] Order No. 63/SL of November 22, 1945, on the organization, authority, and working procedures of People’s Councils and Administrative Committees at all levels, and Order No. 77/SL, of December 21, 1945, on the organization, authority, responsibilities, and working procedures of People’s Councils and Administrative Committees in towns and cities of the President of the Provisional Government, and Law on the Organization of Local Government, 1958.
[12] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 5, pp. 309, 280, 290
[13] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 5, pp. 309 - 318, 318, 319
[14] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 7, pp. 355
[15] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 4, pp. 189
[16] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, ibid., vol. 8, pp. 262
