Identifying false and hostile views about the socialist rule of law in Vietnam.
Misconceptions and hostile views about the socialist rule of law in Vietnam focus on the following main aspects:
Firstly, they distort and deny the nature of the socialist rule of law in Vietnam. Recently, on various forums, hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces have distorted the nature of our State, claiming it is "dictatorial" and "totalitarian," based on distorted, speculative, and slanderous arguments aimed at denying the leadership role of our Party. Examples include: "Vietnam's one-party system is contrary to the principles of the rule of law, cannot promote democracy, and is only dictatorial and oppressive" (!?); "Faced with the dictatorial and ineffective rule of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam , the people can no longer tolerate it and are rising up to oppose these mistakes, demanding human dignity, human rights, and democracy. More and more people are fighting, one after another, and the number is growing" (!?); “The Communist Party of Vietnam leads the State and the entire society, which means it is a one-party rule regime” (!?) and accuses that Vietnam’s current political system is “incompatible with international standards,” “contrary to the principles of the rule of law,” or that “the Vietnamese Constitution is illegitimate, merely the charter of the dictatorial, totalitarian Communist Party of Vietnam” (!?)...
Secondly, exploiting the slogans of democracy and human rights, hostile and reactionary forces constantly slander, distort, and misrepresent the implementation of democracy in our country, claiming that there is no democracy in Vietnam. These hostile forces also strive to distort and incite skepticism about the socialist democracy that our people are building, and to portray our elections as merely a "democratic charade" orchestrated by the Communist Party. Foreign reactionary forces have enticed and incited domestic political opportunists to engage in "self-nomination" schemes, urging pro-democracy groups on social media to support these "democrats" in order to disrupt and sabotage the elections; at the same time, they spread rumors that the Communist Party deliberately "obstructs" non-Party members from self-nominating. Furthermore, they spread the narrative of "seat allocation" for National Assembly personnel on social media, claiming that elections are merely a formality, and that power within the National Assembly has been "arranged," "negotiated," and "divided" by factions within the Party. These are entirely reactionary and deceitful arguments of hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces plotting to undermine the Party, the State, and the building of a socialist rule of law state in Vietnam today.
Thirdly, hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces have put forward many false arguments aimed at distorting and denying the rule-of-law nature of the Socialist State of Vietnam, such as "the rule of law is a value of capitalist countries, Vietnam's re-evaluation of building and perfecting the rule of law is a direction following the capitalist path" (!?) and "there is only a bourgeois rule of law state, not a socialist rule of law state" (!?), thereby denying the Party's leadership role over the State and claiming that the bourgeois democratic regime as it exists in the West is the highest form of democracy, an "eternal paradise"; and "without pluralism and multi-party system, there will never be democracy," "multi-party system and pluralism are the most important elements in building a democratic nation," and "multi-party system will ensure the people's right to govern the country" (!?). Accordingly, these "democracy activists" are demanding that Vietnam amend its 2013 Constitution and reform the state institutions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam according to the "separation of powers" model.
Through these brazen arguments, it is clear that hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces are plotting to distort and deny the existence and nature of the socialist rule of law and socialist democracy in Vietnam, attempting to steer Vietnam's development towards capitalist countries. This involves building a state modeled after capitalist countries and implementing "separation of powers." This is a very insidious plot aimed at undermining the fundamental issues of the Vietnamese revolution in the current period.
Arguments for refuting false and hostile views on the socialist rule of law in Vietnam.
The fact that hostile forces, reactionaries, and political opportunists are trying every means to distort, misinterpret, and slander based on illogical and unfounded arguments in order to deny the socialist rule of law in Vietnam is unacceptable, as demonstrated through the following issues:
Firstly, democracy is a progressive trend in human history, but it is not determined by a one-party or multi-party system; rather, it depends on which class's interests the ruling party represents and what goals it aims to achieve.
The view that a one-party system is undemocratic, while a multi-party system is synonymous with democracy, is one-sided. In practice, a country's democracy does not depend on whether it has a one-party or multi-party system, but rather on whether the ruling party protects the rights and interests of the majority of working people or only a minority. If a party only serves its own interests and class interests, its activities will be localized and unlikely to gain acceptance from other social strata to become a leading force for society as a whole. Conversely, if a party represents both its own interests and the interests of society as a whole, it will certainly gain the trust and confidence of the people to lead society. This is concrete evidence to affirm that a multi-party system is not necessarily democratic, and a one-party system is not necessarily undemocratic.
The issue of a single political party or multiple political parties depends, on the one hand, on the historical conditions and circumstances of each country, and on the other hand, on the balance of power between classes and strata in society. In capitalist countries, there are many political parties, but only those of the bourgeoisie hold power. These parties may differ in organizational form, methods of operation, and specific goals, but in essence, they all represent different groups within the bourgeoisie and all aim to maintain and develop the capitalist system. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the vanguard of the working class, and at the same time the vanguard of the working people and the Vietnamese nation; it faithfully represents the interests of the working class, the working people, and the entire nation. The Party has no interests other than the interests of the people, the nation, and the country. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the sole ruling party, a choice of history and a prerequisite for ensuring socialist democracy and the people's right to self-governance. Therefore, the argument that Vietnam's maintenance of a single-party system is undemocratic deliberately ignores or misunderstands the political nature of the party, or intentionally makes ill-intentioned generalizations about Vietnam.
The practice in many countries around the world shows that the level of democracy is not directly proportional to the number of political parties. “For example, in the US there are currently about 40 parties, in the Netherlands there are 25 parties, in Norway there are 23 parties... but we cannot conclude that the US is more democratic than the Netherlands or Norway” (1). Currently, there are more than 30 countries and territories in the world that follow a one-party system. This shows that a political system ruled by a single party is not something only found in socialist countries led by communist parties, and that countries with a one-party system do not guarantee democracy. Therefore, Vietnam's choice of a single-party system to lead and rule is not unique, nor does it go against the general trend of humanity as hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces still propagate and accuse!
Secondly, socialist democracy is the inherent goodness of the socialist rule of law in our country, which the Communist Party of Vietnam has continuously supplemented and perfected. From its inception, the Communist Party of Vietnam set the goal of bringing independence to the nation, prosperity and happiness to the people, and empowering them to truly exercise their right to self-governance. Therefore, after the success of the August Revolution in 1945, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized the goal of building a state of the people, by the people, and for the people, aiming to realize the people's power with the motto "All benefits are for the people."
Police officers and soldiers of the People's Public Security Force disseminate legal information to the San Chi ethnic minority people in Quang Ninh province. (Photo: Archival material)
Inheriting and developing the views of President Ho Chi Minh, our Party has continuously perfected socialist democracy to build a truly democratic system, implemented in all areas of politics, economics, culture, and society, through the activities of the State elected by the people in both direct and representative forms of democracy. Democracy is linked with order and discipline and is institutionalized and guaranteed by law.
The view on socialist democracy is strongly expressed in the Platform for building the country during the transition period to socialism (Supplemented and developed in 2011): “Socialist democracy is the essence of our regime, both the goal and the driving force of national development. Building and gradually perfecting socialist democracy, ensuring democracy is implemented in real life, at every level, in all fields. Democracy is linked with discipline and order and must be institutionalized by law and guaranteed by law” (2). Thus, it is impossible to arbitrarily conclude that Vietnam does not pay attention to democracy or lacks democracy because that does not reflect the true nature of the socialist regime that our people are building.
At the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Party determined: “Continuing to build and perfect the socialist rule of law state of Vietnam of the people, by the people and for the people, led by the Party, is the central task of reforming the political system. Improving the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of the State's operations. Clearly defining the role, position, functions, tasks and powers of state agencies in exercising legislative, executive and judicial powers on the basis of the rule of law, ensuring that state power is unified, with clear division of labor, close coordination and strengthening control of state power. Building a complete, timely, synchronous, unified, feasible, open, transparent, stable legal system, taking the legitimate rights and interests of the people and businesses as the focus to promote innovation and ensure the requirements of rapid and sustainable development” (3).
With the motto "the people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect, the people supervise, and the people benefit," the 13th National Congress of the Party made adjustments and additions to several new points regarding the thinking on building a socialist rule of law state, ensuring that the people's democratic rights are implemented in practice. At the same time, it more clearly defined the role of "the Party leading, the State managing, and the Fatherland Front and other political and social organizations as the core" to empower the people. The Party and the State promulgate guidelines, policies, and laws that create a political and legal foundation, respecting, guaranteeing, and protecting the people's right to self-governance.
The 13th National Congress of the Party, based on a summary of theory and practice, supplemented and developed the thinking on the development of a socialist rule of law state. These additions and developments once again affirm that, although there have been changes in the model of the state apparatus in each historical period, the overarching thread is the consistent understanding and action of building and perfecting a truly socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people, and for the people in the new conditions.
Thirdly, the "separation of powers" model may be suitable to varying degrees in some countries around the world, but it is not suitable for the conditions and political system of Vietnam. Vietnam chooses to organize power as a "socialist rule of law state of the people, by the people, for the people," not "separation of powers," but firmly adheres to the principle of "unified state power, with division of labor, coordination and control among state agencies in the exercise of legislative, executive and judicial powers" (4) and "implementing the principle of democratic centralism" (5). This is a choice suitable to the context of Vietnam as well as the objective trend of the times, drawn from the practical experience of more than 35 years of implementing the reform process as well as learning and referencing the experience of other countries in the process of international integration.
We do not deny the universal values of the rule of law, which are the essence of human intellect, inherent in the laws of nature, and not a unique or exclusive product of capitalism. The construction and perfection of a socialist rule of law state is a completely new theoretical and practical issue, unprecedented, requiring scientific theoretical understanding, creative application, and adherence to the socialist orientation in its construction and perfection. This is precisely the inheritance and creative application of universal values of the rule of law state, while also being linked to the socialist orientation in building a proletarian state in Vietnam. The perspective on building a socialist rule of law state marks a step forward in the Vietnamese Communist Party's view on building and perfecting the political system in our country during the đổi mới (renovation) period.
In the work "Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam," General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong pointed out the qualitative difference between the socialist rule of law state and the bourgeois rule of law state. That is: "The rule of law under the capitalist regime is essentially a tool to protect and serve the interests of the bourgeoisie, while the rule of law under the socialist regime is a tool to express and implement the people's right to self-governance, ensuring and protecting the interests of the vast majority of the people. Through the implementation of the law, the State ensures the conditions for the people to be the subjects of political power, exercising dictatorship over all actions that harm the interests of the Fatherland and the people" (13). Therefore, democracy is the essence of the socialist regime, both the goal and the driving force of the socialist construction; Building a socialist democracy and ensuring that power truly belongs to the people is a crucial and long-term task of the Vietnamese revolution.
Prosecutors and ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands - Source: baovephapluat.vn
Therefore, it is impossible to argue that "building a rule of law state is following the capitalist path," and it is impossible to distort the fact that in Vietnam there is "only party rule, no rule of law"... The "separation of powers" model of state is also not a model of progress in terms of freedom, democracy, and human rights. This is an extremely dangerous argument because when making this argument, these individuals intentionally distort and deny Vietnam's political system as well as deny the Party's leadership role over the State and society; praise, promote, and advance the "separation of powers" model of state; praise the so-called Western values of "freedom, democracy, and human rights"; and divide the national unity and the relationship and institution of Party leadership, State management, and people's ownership. On the other hand, the dissemination of such rhetoric aims to distort the nature and superiority of the social system, diminishing the prestige and standing of the socialist rule of law in Vietnam on the international stage. Therefore, such false rhetoric cannot be ignored or downplayed.
It can be affirmed that erroneous and hostile views on the socialist rule of law in Vietnam are very dangerous because they directly relate to the survival of the Party, the State, and the socialist regime that our people are building. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly identify these views and have valid and persuasive arguments to firmly consolidate the ideological foundation of the Communist Party of Vietnam; at the same time, to raise awareness and cultivate the people's trust in the socialist rule of law that we are building.
Professor, Doctor Le Van Loi
Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
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(1) Vu Van Hien (Editor): Some arguments refuting wrong, hostile and subversive views against the 13th Party Congress, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, vol. 1, p. 143
(2) Documents of the 11th National Congress of Delegates, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011 pp. 84-85
(3) Documents of the 13th National Congress of Delegates, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, Vol. I, pp. 174 - 175
(4) Clause 3, Article 2, Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(5) Clause 1, Article 8, Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(6) Nguyen Phu Trong: Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2022, p. 29
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