The Testament (also known as the "Top Secret" document) is the last national treasure left by President Ho Chi Minh. Fifty-five years have passed, and Ho Chi Minh's thought and Testament have always accompanied the nation, illuminating and guiding the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army to remain steadfast and loyal to the revolutionary cause and his ideals. The Party is not an organization for seeking power and wealth . As the founder and trainer of the Party, always deeply concerned about how to build and strengthen the Party to be truly clean, strong, and worthy of being the leader and loyal servant of the people, it is easy to understand why, in his Testament, President Ho Chi Minh "first spoke about the Party."

Photo: Archival material

However, what is special is that the Testament is the only document among thousands of documents by the revolutionary and journalist Ho Chi Minh in which he officially used the concept of "ruling Party" with very specific criteria as the "vital" qualities of the Party: unity and solidarity; serving the class, the people, and the Fatherland with all one's might; practicing broad democracy; serious self-criticism and criticism; revolutionary ethics of thrift, integrity, impartiality, and selflessness. These qualities constitute the characteristic essence, superiority, strength, authority, prestige, and culture of the Party among the people, ensuring that the Party enhances its fighting capacity, leadership ability, and maintains its ruling role throughout the entire revolutionary process of our country. In the Testament, President Ho Chi Minh advocated and initiated the most sustainable, but also the most difficult, method of governance: governing through the moral character of the Party, manifested in each individual Party member. Because, in Ho Chi Minh's thought, revolutionary morality is the root and foundation of a revolutionary; only those with pure revolutionary morality can accomplish noble and glorious deeds; without morality, no matter how talented, one cannot lead the people because liberating the nation and liberating humanity is a monumental task, and if one lacks morality, lacks a foundation, and is corrupt and wicked, what can one possibly accomplish? Immediately after the success of the August Revolution, our Party, from operating secretly, became the ruling party. Alongside exemplary cadres and party members, there was still a segment of cadres and party members who became degenerate and corrupt, falling into bureaucracy, authoritarianism, localism, and favoritism... This segment, these "parasites," have damaged the Party's prestige and honor, affecting its survival, causing the people to lose faith and gradually distance themselves from the Party. Therefore, on the one hand, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized that "the Party is not an organization for seeking power and wealth"; on the other hand, he strictly demanded "reforming working methods," rectifying the Party so that it would be worthy of its vanguard role in the class and the nation. Self-building and self-rectification to make the Party clean and strong is the law of our Party's existence and development. In his Testament, he worried about the future and prospects of the nation, and the degeneration and corruption of a segment of cadres and Party members who had positions and power. Therefore, he clearly stated: "The first thing that needs to be done is to rectify the Party, so that every Party member, every Youth Union member, every Party branch strives to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, wholeheartedly serving the people. If we can do that, then no matter how great or difficult the task, we will certainly succeed." Once cadres and Party members are imbued with revolutionary ethics and eradicate individualism, they will inevitably unite and "protect the Party's unity as carefully as they protect the pupil of their eye." Good unity is achieved through ethics; achieving good and close unity means Party members have been imbued with revolutionary ethics, which will make our Party truly clean and strong. According to President Ho Chi Minh, the attractiveness of socialism and communism lies primarily in the ethical values, moral qualities, and character of communists. In a culture where people possess such high moral standards, character, and a noble way of life, the worst, outdated, and corrupt aspects will inevitably be swept away. The enduring vitality and appeal of the Testament: The aforementioned humanistic values ​​in the Communist Party's conception of governing culture create the beauty, vitality, and enduring appeal of the Testament – ​​a treasure of President Ho Chi Minh, of the nation and people, always guiding and accompanying the Vietnamese people on every path of development and progress. Over the past 55 years, implementing President Ho Chi Minh's Testament, one of the important achievements has been building a truly united, clean, and strong Party, strengthening the education of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought within the Party and throughout society. Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought are the ideological foundation and guiding principles for the Party's actions and have become the dominant political ideology in the life of the country. The work of building and rectifying the Party has always been promoted and summarized through the National Party Congresses. In the last 10 years alone, right from the beginning of each term, the Fourth Plenum of the Central Committee has discussed and issued extremely important resolutions, conclusions, and regulations on Party building and rectification, with each subsequent session being more profound, comprehensive, specific, and clear than the previous one. The fight against corruption and negative phenomena has been led and directed decisively, synchronously, comprehensively, systematically, and in depth, with very high political determination, achieving many clear and breakthrough results, gaining the people's approval, support, and high praise; consolidating and strengthening the trust of cadres, Party members, and the people in the Party and the State. Many resolutions, directives, regulations, and conclusions have yielded practical results, creating a widespread impact within the Party and society. In particular, Directive No. 05 and Conclusion No. 01 on continuing to implement Directive No. 05 of the 12th Politburo on "Promoting the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality, and style" have contributed to effectively combating and preventing the decline in ideology, politics, morality, and lifestyle, as well as manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" among cadres and Party members, especially leading and managerial cadres and heads of organizations, agencies, and units. From there, we can build a team of cadres with firm political convictions, impeccable moral character, responsibility, and correct motivations; pioneering and exemplary, fulfilling assigned tasks well, contributing to breakthroughs in socio-economic development, national construction and defense… It can be affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh's instructions and wishes regarding the governing culture of the Communist Party, as expressed in his Testament, are simple, noble, and sacred, with profound significance for Party building. Recalling his guidance, every cadre and Party member must constantly cultivate and refine revolutionary moral ideals, resolutely combat individualism, practice thrift, fight against waste and corruption; courageously engage in self-criticism and criticism; and consciously and proactively lead in setting an example in morality and lifestyle. We must resolutely fight against the abuse of power, corruption, "group interests," the decline in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, "self-evolution," and "self-transformation"... This is a practical contribution to ensuring that "the country's renewal will certainly achieve great victories, our Fatherland will become increasingly prosperous, our people will become increasingly happy and well-off, our country will develop increasingly prosperously and powerfully, and steadily advance towards socialism." This is also a contribution to successfully achieving the strategic goals set forth by the 13th Party Congress and the teachings of the great President Ho Chi Minh, which is also the aspiration of the entire nation: "The entire Party and all the people unite and strive to build a peaceful , unified, independent, democratic, and prosperous Vietnam, making a worthy contribution to the world revolutionary cause."

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