 |
| A corner of Ho Chi Minh City__Photo: VNA |
The 2nd plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee was held on March 23-25 in Hanoi under the chairmanship of Party General Secretary To Lam. Convened shortly after the 14th National Party Congress, the plenum was not merely an initial implementation step but is regarded as a foundational meeting, setting the operational framework for the entire political system for the 2026-30 period.
Establishing the framework for the operation of the political system
One of the key outcomes of the plenum was the adoption of the working regulations of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat of the 14th tenure. These regulations serve as the primary instruments governing internal coordination, decision-making processes, and accountability mechanisms at the highest level of leadership, ensuring compliance with the Party Charter and the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress, while upholding the unified, direct, comprehensive and absolute leadership of the Party over strategic issues and major national policies.
Notably, the plenum emphasised the requirement for delegation and decentralisation in tandem with effective control of power, alongside strengthened inspection and supervision. In light of this, these working regulations clearly define responsibilities and powers of key leaders, individualise accountability, and ensure that tasks are handled within proper authority and in line with practical requirements. This provides an essential foundation for enhancing transparency and improving the effectiveness of the political system’s operation.
Through the adoption of these new regulations, the plenum set out a clear direction for renewing leadership methods in a more scientific, disciplined and effective manner. The combination of decentralisation and power control is intended not only to enhance the proactiveness of various levels and sectors, but also to ensure meaningful and effective oversight mechanisms.
In particular, regulations on Party inspection, supervision and discipline are identified as key instruments to enhance the Party’s leadership and governing capacity, as well as the State’s capacity for management, governance and development facilitation. This reflects a clear orientation towards building a disciplined, coherent and efficient system of governance from the outset of the term.
Aligning institutional reform with development goals
The plenum also outlined major socio-economic development orientations for the 2026-30 period. The working programme of the Party Central Committee is designed to implement the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress, with a focus on the six key tasks and three strategic breakthroughs, striving to achieve “double-digit” growth.
These orientations encompass strategic issues such as green transition, productivity enhancement, and adaptation to climate change and demographic ageing. This demonstrates that institutional reform, including the development and improvement of the legal framework, is not only an internal requirement but is closely linked to the country’s objectives of rapid and sustainable development.
Significantly, the plenum also highlights the need to address practical shortcomings, including situations where laws, although substantively sound, remain difficult to implement, thereby leading to inefficiency and waste of resources. This sends a strong signal of the need to improve both the quality of law-making and the effectiveness of law enforcement in the coming period.
From foundational design to practical implementation
It is evident that the 2nd Plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee was not intended to produce immediate detailed policies, but rather to establish overarching principles, regulations and orientations for the entire term.
With the decisions and orientations adopted, the plenum can be regarded as a foundational meeting, laying the groundwork for the overall operation of the new term. From the adoption of working regulations and the shaping of leadership methods to the setting of development orientations and institutional reform priorities, the plenum has established a coherent framework to ensure the coordinated and effective functioning of the political system in the years ahead.- (VLLF)
