Create a premise

On his journey to find a way to save the country and save the people (1911-1941), President Ho Chi Minh visited the most advanced capitalist countries such as France, the US, the UK and the colonies in Asia, Africa, America... Wherever he went, he saw the suffering of the working people under the brutal and inhumane oppression and exploitation of the rulers. Besides, in these places, he studied the most typical bourgeois revolutions of modern times and realized the nature of the Western capitalist regime: "inside, it deprives the workers and peasants, outside, it oppresses the colonies".

Therefore, he concluded: "The capitalist revolution is a revolution that has not yet reached its destination." Because, according to him: "We have sacrificed to make the revolution, so we should do it to the end, meaning that after the revolution, the power should be given to the majority of the people, not left in the hands of a small group of people. Only then will we avoid sacrificing many times, and only then will the people be happy."

President Ho Chi Minh always cared about building a rule-of-law state for the people. Photo: Archive

The victory of the August Revolution in 1945 gave birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The preamble of the 1946 Constitution stated: “The August Revolution regained sovereignty for the country, freedom for the people and established a democratic republic. After eighty years of struggle, the Vietnamese people have escaped from the oppression of colonialism and at the same time abolished the monarchy. The country has entered a new phase.”

Assessing this, in the Political Report at the Second National Congress of the Party (February 11, 1951), President Ho Chi Minh stated: “The August Revolution overthrew the monarchy of several decades, broke the colonial chains of nearly a hundred years, returned the government to the people, and built the foundation for an independent, free, and happy Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The victory of the August Revolution made us a part of the world democratic family… On September 2, 1945, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established, declared to the world Vietnam’s independence, and implemented democratic freedoms in the country.”

Speaking about the purpose of the August Revolution in 1945, in the Appeal on the occasion of the anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day written on September 1, 1954, President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated:

“What was the purpose of the August Revolution? To regain peace, unity, independence and democracy for our Fatherland and our people. The August Revolution succeeded, and on September 2, our country declared independence. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. Free general elections were held, and the people of our country elected a National Assembly. The National Assembly passed the Constitution and elected the Central Government. Local governments from commune to province were elected by the people. At that time, we began to implement unity, independence and democracy” (Nhan Dan Newspaper, No. 220, September 1-3, 1954).

Pursuing rights and happiness for the people

A rule of law state is first and foremost a democratic state. Second, a rule of law state is a state that respects the law, is organized and operates within the framework of the Constitution and the law. Third, a rule of law state is a clean, strong, effective state that overcomes the inherent diseases of old-style states. A state for the people is a state that seeks the rights and happiness of the people.

In fact, throughout his revolutionary activities, President Ho Chi Minh attached special importance to managing the country and society with a rule-of-law state and he was also interested in building a state for the people. Therefore, under his guidance, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam became a rule-of-law state for the people.

How did President Ho Chi Minh build a rule-of-law state? One day after the declaration of independence (September 2, 1945), on September 3, 1945, in the first meeting of the provisional government, he stated: “Before, we were ruled by an autocratic monarchy, then by an equally autocratic colonial regime, so our country did not have a constitution. Our people did not enjoy democratic freedom. We must have a democratic constitution.”

As President, he twice headed the Constitution Drafting Committee (1946 and 1959), signed orders to promulgate 16 laws, 613 decrees and many other sub-law documents. In his work Political Common Sense (1951), he also pointed out:

“In the past, Vietnam still had a State and Government. However, they were tools of imperialism and feudalism to oppress the people. After the success of the August Revolution, we established a new Government, army, police, court, and new laws for the people to fight against internal and external enemies, and to protect the people's rights. Our new State and the old State have different characteristics... The old State was in the hands of imperialism and feudalism, its nature was imperialism and feudalism, and reactionary. Our State today is in the hands of the people against imperialism and feudalism. Its nature is people's democratic dictatorship.”

How did President Ho Chi Minh build a State for the people? According to President Ho Chi Minh, the victory of the August Revolution “brought the Vietnamese nation into a new era, an era of independence, freedom and socialism”.

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Therefore, right after the success of the August Revolution, in the article The Government is the servant of the people, he stated: “Nearly two months ago, before the August 19, 1945 uprising, when mentioning the two words Government, people immediately thought of a dangerous and cunning gang of bandits. On the contrary, everyone has a warm feeling for the current People's Government mixed with deep respect...

The work of the Government must aim at the sole purpose of seeking freedom and happiness for all people. Therefore, the People's Government must always put the interests of the people above all else. Whatever is beneficial to the people must be done. Whatever is harmful to the people must be avoided... In short, all the evil, corruption, injustice, and oppression of the old regime and the previous councils of elders cannot exist in the current People's Committees. The People's Committee is the Committee with the duty to implement freedom and democracy for the people. It must act in accordance with that spirit of freedom and democracy" (Cuu Quoc Newspaper, No. 46, September 19, 1945).

In the Letter to the People's Committees of the regions, provinces, districts and villages (October 17, 1945), President Ho Chi Minh also clearly stated: "We must understand that the Government agencies from the whole country to the villages are all servants of the people, meaning they are to shoulder the common work of the people, not to oppress the people as in the period under the domination of France and Japan."

During his visit to Thanh Hoa in 1947, President Ho Chi Minh advised cadres and party members: “We must use all the people’s strength, people’s talent, and people’s property to serve the people. In the past, people’s strength and people’s property benefited the imperialists, now they benefit the people.”

At the 1966 Congress of Heroes and Emulation Fighters fighting against the US to save the country, he once again emphasized: “Our Government is a Government that serves the people, wholeheartedly serving the people. If anyone in the Government wants to be an official, he cannot stay in our Government.”

'Our regime is a democratic regime, meaning the people are the masters'

Speaking to the ethnic people of Tuyen Quang province in March 1961, President Ho Chi Minh explained the democratic regime and the Party's leadership very clearly: "Our regime is a democratic regime, meaning that the people are the masters. Our Party is the leading Party, meaning that all cadres, from the central level, to the regional level, to the provincial level, to the district level, to the commune level, at any level and in any sector - must be loyal servants of the people."

The task of the democratic regime and the Party leadership under President Ho Chi Minh is to build socialism. Regarding the good nature of the socialist regime, he pointed out: “Socialism is how to make people have enough to eat, enough to wear, increasingly happy, everyone can go to school, have medicine when sick, retire when old and unable to work, bad customs and habits are gradually eliminated... In short, society is progressing, material things are increasing, and spirit is getting better, that is socialism”.

On September 9, 1969, the Eulogy of the Party Central Committee read by Comrade Le Duan, First Secretary, at the solemn memorial service for President Ho Chi Minh included the following passage: "Farewell to Him, we vow: To do our utmost to continue striving to realize the noble socialist and communist ideals that He outlined for the working class and our people, bringing prosperity to the country and happiness to our compatriots."

Nguyen Van Toan

Vietnamnet.vn