Communist Review - Being the agency that carries out the constitutional and legal rights, makes decisions on the important issues of the country and the supreme supvervision of the activities of the State, the National Assmbly through the periods has always done well the application of Ho Chi Minh thought, the institutionalization and concretization of the Party’s line in the building of culture and the Vietnamese people. Together with it, the organization, the mode, the style and the operation of the National Assembly are always the imbodiment for the political and cultural values of Vietnam, based on the spirit of the rule of law, democracy, unity, humaneness, in service of the Fatherland and of the people.

Starting from the geographical, historical, cultural, political, economic-social elements along the length of the national construction and defence, the Vietnamedse nation has to cope with and overcome a lot of difficulties and challenges caused by natural calamities and enemy destruction. The tradition of patriotism, unity, bravery, prowess, diligence, studiousness, benevolence, humaneness, indulgence; willpower of “nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” has forged the abilities, character, dignity and stature of the nation, crystalized them into the cultural identity of Vietnam. In the Ho Chi Minh epoch – the most glorious epoch in the history of the nation – the culture of Vietnam has promoted ever more strongly the identity, and at the same time received with selection the quintessence of mankind’s culture so as to shape a new culture of Vietnam deeply imbued with the national, democratic, advanced and humane character.

With the intensive and extensive cultural perspective and the sharp political mindset and the abilities, right after having led our people to rise up to overthrow the ruling  yoke of colonialism, on September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam). This is the political-legal document bearing the epochal stature and the cultural depth. That is why, right at the first session of the provisionary Governmental Council (September 3, 1945), President Ho Chi Minh defined that one of the central tasks that should be done immediately was to build and enforce the Constitution; to have the Constitution, we had also to have the National Assembly – the supreme organ of State power, the people’s supreme representative agency. Accordingly, “the sooner the better the GENERAL ELECTION with the universal suffrage had to be organized. All the citizens, male and female, from 18  years of age, were entitled to stand for candidates and for election, irrespective of the poor or the rich, religion, races and so on” (1). Also at this important session, of 6 defined urgent tasks of the revolutionary State, 3 tasks belonged to the cultural area: firstly, “to launch an anti-illiteracy campaign”; secondly, “to launch to re-educate the people’s spirit”; thirdly, “to practice the religious freedom and the unity of non-Catholics and Catholics”. On September 8, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh issued the Decree No. 14-SL, the first decree of the General election to vote for the deputies to the National Assembly. Although it was carried out in the condition of “the internal enemies and the external invaders”, in the extremely difficult economic-social context, the General election had happened in the very urgent, serious, democratic way and it was really the festive day of the masses and won the resounding victories and it had gone down into the national history as the radiant landmark of the process of building the democratic and republic system in Vietnam.

The National Assembly and the Governmental compositons led by Presdent Ho Chi Minh with the participation of the notable people and intellectuals, such as Huynh Thuc Khang, Nguyen Van To, Bui Đang Đoan and others. In His writing titled “Talented people and National Construction”, published in Cuu Quoc (National Salvation) paper, on November 14, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Construction needs talented people. Even though our country has not got a lot of talented people, if we can be able to select them cleverly, distribute them cleverly, use them cleverly, then there will be a lot more talented people developed”. The superiority of the new regime and the patriotic spirit, talent, intellect, cultural character and abilities of Ho Chi Minh had gathered a lot of great intellectuals in the country such as Hoang Minh Giam, Nguyen Van Huyen, Ta Quang Buu, Nghiem Xuan Yem, Phan Anh, Vu Đinh Tung, Nguy Nhu Kon Tum and so on, attracted a number of intellectuals who had accepted to leave their glittering lives and favourable working conditions in France and came back to the Fatherland to take part in the revolution full of difficulties and hardships, such as Pham Quang Le alia Tran Đai Nghia and Tran Huu Tuoc, making a contribution to creating the endogenous strength for the fledgling revolutionary State to implement the “resistance” and “national construction” tasks.

Although being up to the eyes in preparation for the national resistance war against the French aggressors, under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh, the first National Cultural Conference was opened on November 24, 1946 in the Hanoi Municipal Theatre – a conference deeply imprinted with the historical and cultural marks. The Conference had received over 200 typical cultural activists. In His opening speech, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “Vietnam’s new culture has to take the happiness of the people, of the nation as the base, has to learn the good things from foreign countries’ culture to create Vietnam’s culture in such a way as to make the new culture change corruption, laziness, vanity, luxury, to make everybody have an ideology of autonomy and independence” (2). He affirmed that it needed to “Take culture to shine the path for the nation” (3).

The work of the National Assembly, 1^st legislature, was the incarnation for the political culture that upheld democracy, unity, placed the interests of the country-nation above all else; was served as the basis for strengthening and building the Government and other agencies of the State apparatus; implemented successfully the “anti-hunger”, “anti-illiteracy”, “anti-foreign invaders” tasks and built a new culture. Well aware of the role of the Constitution and the law with the construction of democracy, the renovation of culture, in a capacity as the head of the Constitution drafting committee, President Ho Chi Minh was active and urgent in giving guidance to the building and issuance of the Constitution. The first Constitution was approved by the Second Session of the National Assembly, 1^st Legislature, on Novermber 9, 1946.  The 1946 Constitution was very short, succinct, except the Preamble, 7 chapters, 70 articles, reflecting the inheritance of the ideological values, the fine traditional culture of the nation, received with selection the quintessence of the culture of mankind, particularly the ideologies of organization and operation of the State based on the rule-of-law principle. This spirit had been stressed by President Ho Chi Minh in His speech at the closing meeting of the Second session of the National Assembly, 1^st Legislature: “After 14 months of the country’s freedom, the first Constitution has been completed in the country’s history. That Constitution is also the historical trace, and the first Constituion in this Asian region…. That Constitution declared to the world that Vietnam was now an independent country. That Constitution declared to the world that the nation of Vietnam now had all the freedom rights. That Constitution declared to the world:  The Vietnamese women have now been on an equal footing with the men so as to be able to enjoy in common all the freedom rights of the citizens. That Constitution pointed out the spirit of close unity of all the Vietnamese nationalities and the spirit of honest integrity and equality of the classes” (4).  The 1946 Constitution contained the values of epochal stature and the cultural depth; reflected the people’s willpower; the sense of responsibility and the clear-sighted decision of the National Assembly.

In the context of the anti-French resistance war, the National Assembly was yet to have the conditions to issue the laws on the national management, and it mainly had to operate by the Decree of the State President, but the spirit of democracy, rule-of-law, unity and humaneness of the 1946 Constitution had aroused and promoted to the highest degree the cultural strength and the Vietnamese people, thus creating the synergy to win victories of the nation when the material and technical strength had been inclining on the part of the enemies.

After 9 years of the anti-French resistance war overbrimmed with sacrifices and hardships, in 1957, President Ho Chi Minh signed and promulgated the laws stipulating the press regimes; on the freedom of meetings and the right to set up associations; the bodily liberty, the inviolability of people’s houses, objects and correspondence. Under His leadership and the leadership of the Labour Party of Vietnam (now the Communist Party of Vietnam), the National Assembly had issued the 1959 Constitution together with the laws stipulating the organization and operation of the State appartus, such as the Law on Election of deputies to the National Assembly, the Law on Organization of the National Assembly, the Law on Organization of the Governmental Council, the Law on Organization of People’s Court, the Law on Organization of People’s Procuracy and so on, creating the important legal basis for the State to organize and operate in accordance with the Constitution and the law. The 1946 Constitution, the 1959 Constitution and the above-said laws had institutionalized the Party’s lines and veiwpoints, reflecting the depth of the ideology of political culture, legal culture of President Ho Chi Minh, particularl;y the spirit of social management by law, upholding the principle of the rule of law, unity, humaneness and promoting the people’s rights to mastery.

Ho Chi Minh thought on culture, the relationship between culture and law had been added, developed and perfected by Him in many years after that. Accordingly, culture and law had the dialectical and organic relations; culture, on the one hand, had a very great influence on law; on the other hand, law created the premises and strong basis to develpp culture and build human beings. Culture was a very important motive force for social development. Law had been built and implemented by the entire people with a view to expressing their willpower and aspirations, ensuring the equality, freedom and humaneness of the whole society. Culture and law are all for human beings, for social development, and all direct to the truth, the goodness and the beauty.

For more than 76 years now, on the foundation of Ho Chi Minh thought, the Party’s viewpoints, lines and advocacies have been institutionalized with great efforts into the State’s policies and laws, through which it is guaranteed that all of the Party’s lines and resolutions have been seriously and effectively implemented on the whole social scope.  The State’s policies and laws are the means to help the State manage all aspects of life; the people promote democracy and implement correctly their righs and obligations.

In the process of its revolutionary leadership, the Communist Party of Vietnam has always affirmed, “Studying, learning and creative application of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh thought are the important and constant tasks of cadres, party members and the entire people. Studying, learning and following of Ho Chi Minh thought, morality and manners are really to implement correctly the spirit that He had taught: Learning for working, for being the human beings, for being cadres; learning to serve the organizations (5), to serve classes and people, to serve the Fatherland and human kind. For studying, learning and application of Ho Chi Minh thought and the Party’s lines and advocacies on the State and law, first of all, it is necessary to build and perfect the socialist rule-of-law State of the people, by the people and for the people. The Party’s documents of the recent tenures have all laid emphasis on the goals and demands of building the socialist rule-of-law State, particularly the Party’s 13^th Congress, considering it as the key task in renewing the political system.

In the context that the country is entering the new development period of watershed character with the multifaceted impacts of the market economy, the international integration and the fourth Industrial Revolution, the values of the nation’s traditional culture have inherited and promoted, at the same time, received the quintessence of humankind’s culture, added and developed the new values, like freedom, democracy, modernity and civilization. The fundamenmtal characteristics and qualities of culture and of the Vietnamese people from the tradition to modernity are of very positive significance that needs being aroused and strongly promoted, transformed into the endogenous resource, the spiritual foundation, the “soft strength” of the country so as to turn to the bright future.

Deeply imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s thought: “To build the new culture of the country, it is necessary to take the happiness of the people, of the nation as the base”, “Culture shines the path for the people”,  under the Party’s leadership, the National Assembly as the supreme representative organ of the people, the supreme State power-holding body, representing the people’s willpower and aspirations, always paying attention to institutionalizing the Party’s viewpoints and advocacies, enhancing the supervisory activities, approving the important decisive policies in order to develop culture and the Vietnamese people, meeting the requirements of national sustainable development.

The National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the National Assembly agencies are well aware that culture is the spiritual foundation of the society, the goal and motive force of social and human development; the important endogenous resource of the country, with its spillover being deeply penetrated into the whole society, even into the law area. The basis for culture to deeply penetrate into the areas of cultural life are to build and issue the legal documents which must be implemented in the spirit of maintaining and upholding the fine and sustainable values in the traditional flow of the national culture. Any law must also pay attention to its conformity with the national cultural identity, aiming towards the goal of building, developing the culture and the Vietnamese people. If these values are in shortage, the law not only lacks democracy and humanity, but also is not in conformity with Vietnam’s cultural tradition that has been built and strengthened through thousands of years of history.

The Constitution and the laws have established the most important, most fundamental legal institutions, affirming human rights, the rights to build and enjoy culture of all the citizens of Vietnam; to serve the target of protecting and developing the Vietnamese culture at home and abroad; to ensure that people are on an equal footing in creativity and enjoymemnt of the cultural values, are allowed to express and reflect their individual and legitimate aspirations; all the customs, habits, history or cultural diversity of the community of 54 nationalities of Vietnam are respected and recognized. Since the first Constitution (1946), the core, fundamental contents in culture have all inherited and reflected consistently and thoroughly. Especially, in the 2013 Constitution, the contents on culture were provided comprehensively and abundantly with new points, reflecting the State’s determination in institutionalizing the Party’s Program on building an advanced Vietnamese culture richly imbued with the national identity, comprehensively develpped, unified in diversity, deeply absorbed in the humane, democratic, scientific and progressive spirit.

The viewpoint of “human beings are both the centre, the subject of the strategy of cultural development”, “cultural development for the perfection of human dignity and building of humans for cultural development” has been grasped, guided in reviewing, built, promulgated, amended and added to advance to perfect the law by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, contributing to protecting the Party ‘s ideological foundation, the orientation of the standards on morality, the building of human dignity, good and civilized life style and way of life; the building of human beings with the scientific world outlook in the direction of the truth, the goodness and the beauty; connecting the building and training of morality to the implementation of human rights, the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens.

The National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the agencies of the National Assembly are deeply aware of the role and the importance of culture, education and science for the development, the existence of the country. The correct policies on education, science-technology will make a contribution to raising the stature, position and potential of the country, to be on a par with the five continents of the world and firmly advance together with the times. The National Assembly has focused on building the mechanisms and policies to orientate and push ahead the cultural, educational, scientific-technological activities; to contantly improve the people’s intellectual and cultural standards, creating the human resources of ever higher quality so as to be able to meet the requirements of the national fast and sustainable development.

A lot of policies and stipulations of the law which have been promulgated, amended and added have institutionalized the task of improving the quality and effectiveness of the cultural activities, thus creating favourable conditions to protect and promote the values of the cultural heritages, especially the cultural heritages and the cultural celebrities honoured by UNESCO, connecting culture to development of tourism, cultural industry, intellectual property, making a contribution to advertising the images of the land and people of Vietnam to the world; to enhance the activities of culture, literature and art, the education of traditions, to build a new human being; raise the roles and responsibilities of the press agencies, publishing houses, information, communications so as to create the motive forces and the new attractiveness in the social spiritual life.

The lines and advocacies of the Party, the policies and laws of the State have created the mechanisms for the viewpoint that economy in culture, culture in economy has become the realities of life. Especially, the system of policies and laws has initially set up the law framework to develop the products market and cultural services and the cultural industries. This is the important part of the national economy, making an important contribution to building and developing an advanced culture of Vietnam richly imbued with the national identity.

A lot of legal documents have institutionalized the contents of culture in politics, step by step making the cultural values deeply penetrate in the lines and advocacies of the Party, the policies and laws of the State, the activities of the political system, and promoted the socialist democracy, thus creating conditions to the people to take an active and effective opart in the country’s political life, in which the activities of the National Assembly, the agencies of the National Assembly and the deputies of the National Assembly are to be renovated in the direction to uphold the political culture to be suitable to the characteristics of the people-elected body designed by President Ho Chi Minh, laying the foundation, particularly the working style and manner of democracy, unity, responsibility, effectiveness based on the principle of the rule of law and in service of the Fatherland and the people.

In the process of international integration, Vietnam has ratified or participated in almost all the international treaties on human rights, in which there are the rights of culture, the cooperative relations with a lot of countries and territories in the cultural field. The National Assembly has always made efforts to carry out the stipulations and international commitments, internalized them into Vietnam’s legal system, enhanced and protected the fundamental human rights, in which there are the cultural rights in conformity with the principles of the UN Charter and the standards in the international treaties to which Vietnam is the member; created favourable conditions to the exchanges, cooperation and popularization of the culture and introduction of the land and people of Vietnam to the world.

The National Assembly has focused on supervising the implementation of policies and laws to ensure human rights and civil rights; on building the culture and people of Vietnam. To organize the interpellation at the National Assembly, at the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the accountability at the agencies of the National Assembly concerning the major, important issues on culture, such as investment in cultural development; to protect and promote the values of the cultural heritages, the effectivenees of the activities in institutionalzing the grass-root culture, the school culture; to socialize the cultural and art areas; the deployment of the policies on social security; the phenomena of degeneration of social morality; the quality and effectiveness of the activities, mechanisms and policies on literature and art; the building of government office culture and government service morality. The National Assembly, the agencies of the National Assembly have carried out a lot of supervisions and surveys to serve the perfection of the law; at the same time, they have requested the Government, ministries, sectors and localities to reorganize and overcome the inadequacies in the process of deploying the implementation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation of the State apparatus at different levels.

The National Assembly has considered and approved a lof of important resolutions of the country. The resolutions of the National Assembly have always determined that in each policy, attention should be paid to the cultural factor, and the Party’s line and viewpoint of culture should be correctly institutionalized. Much more attention has been paid to investing in culture, meeting the requirements of conservation, to promoting the values of the traditional culture, exploiting the cultural resources to serve the growth and development, to ensuring social security, settling the job affairs and taking care of the people’s ever better material and spiritual life.

The recent activities of the National Assembly have made an important contribution to creating the positive changes, forming the solid legal foundation for the cultural development and the Vietnamese people in the new development stage of the country. However, besides the recorded achievements, there have still been the limitations, shortcomings and even a frank recognition of the difficulties and challenges is needed. Some current stipulations of the law are yet to meet fully the requirements of the realities and the renovation cause. There have still been a lot of problems arisen in the cultural area and there is yet any regulations to adjust them. Some contents of human rights, the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens, particularly of culture, are yet to be institutionalized in a complete and timely manner. Some recently promulgated new law are yet to keep pace with the change of realities. The institutionalization of the cultural policy in the economic development and the economic policy in the cultural development is still slow and not yet to ensure the healthy development of the market of the cultural products and services, to promote the “soft strength” of the country in international integration as well as ensuring the people’s cultural welfare. The building of ecological system for the cultural industry and the enhancement of the cultural industries to develop in combination with the products market and the cultural services have still met with a lot of difficulties and challenges. The mechanism and policy for the artists and writers, for the development of the special sectors of culture, literature and arts to reach their tops are yet to be sufficient to encourage and push ahead the artistic creativity and the discovery and fostering of the talents of literature and arts; it is yet to have any works of high quality that could make great influence and spillover. Investment in cultural development is yet to be desired and it is yet to be aware fully that investment in culture is investment in development. The investment resources for the building of cultural institutionalization are yet to be even, the distance between the cultural enjoyment among the areas and regions is still being bridged slowly.

The 13^th Party Congress has mapped out the goals to the year 2030 that Vietnam will be a developed country with modern industry, high average income and to the year 2045, it will become a developed country with high income. The 13^th Party Congress’ documents have determined one of the major orientations: To develop a comprehensive man, to build an advanced culture richly imbued with the national identity so that culture can really become the endogenous strength and the motive force for national development and defence of the Fatherland. Arousing the aspirations for developing the prosperous and happy country; promoting the cultural values and the strength of the Vietnamese people in building and protecting the Fatherland, in international integration has become one of the key tasks, the strategic breakthrough in the current stage.

To implement this goal, this very important strategic tasks, the Party and the National Assembly have promulgated the Program of Action with 6 groups of solutions and 107 specific tasks, including a lot of contents of culture. In the coming time, the Party and the National Assembly will focus on leading and guiding the deployment of the followings contents:

Firstly, to continue to advise the building and organization of implementing “the Strategy of building, perfecting the legal system and organizing the enforcement of law to the year 2030, with the orientation to the year 2045, meeting the requirements of building and perfecting thr socialist rule-of-law State of Vietnam”. In which, attention is to be paid to raising the awareness, capacities and the law-making quality of the National Assembly on culture; considering culture the target, the endogenous resource, the breakthrough motive force of the development process.

Secondly, to institutionalize the Party’s viewpoints, thoroughly grasp and deploy the guiding opinions of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the National Culture Congress on November 24, 2021, on building and developing culture and the Vietnamese people, ensuring the synchrony, unification, timeliness, feasibility, stability, openness, transparency, full calculation of the requirements of international integration. To give guidance to the study and participation in building the national value system, the family value system, the value system of the Vietnamese people; to perfect the legal system to protect the Party’s ideological foundation and the national culture, to combat against any degenerations, “self-evolution”, “self-transformation” and maintain the moral standards and life style of the Vietnamese, to promote “the learning society” in combination with using the most competent and most moral people; to develop the educational-training and scientific-technological work to really become the top national policy; to promote the creativity, enhance the cultural and art development; to make planning and good management the press-communications; to exploit the scientific-technological advantages, especially the digital technology, so as to introduce the achievements of the renovation work and the outstanding characterisitics of Vietnamese culture to the world; to receive with selection the quintessence of mankind’s culture, at the same time to stop, limit and minimize all the negative impacts.

Thirdly, to renovate and push ahead the supervision of the National Assembly in implementing the advocacies, policies and laws on culture; in implementing  the post-supervision petitions, in combination with the accountability of relevant organizations and individuals, particularly the responsibilities of the chiefs.

Fourthly, to determine the cultural targets t hat need being obtained and to judge fully the cultural impacts before the promulgation of policies and laws, as well as the decision on the country’s important issues.

Fifthly, to promote the role of the parliamentary diplomacy, to constantly expand the cultural cooperation and exchanges. To build mechanisms and poolicies to develop foreign relations in culture, to support the popularization of the national art, to export the cultural products and services and import with selection the cultural products and services in the orocess of intensive and extensive international integration; to to bring into the fullest play the talent and dedication of the Vietnamese intellectuals and artists abroad.

Sixthly, to continue to build and perfect the policies on “cultural development in economic development and economy in cultural development” so that the cultural values can be able to get absorbed and transformed into all the process of movement and development of the socialist-oriented market economy, from production forces to production relationship. To intensify the cultural building in politics, to promote socialist democracy and the strength of the great national unity, in which there are activities of the National Assembly, the agencies of the National Assembly and the deputies to the National Assembly. To increase investment in culture; to focus on developing the cultural products and services market, the cultural industries, to push the creative economic area, to bridge the gap in the people’s enjoyment of culture in the areas and regions.

The Vietnamese culture has been crystalized from the thousand-of-year history of national construction and defence. Culture has created the strength of unity, patriotism, the spirit of self-strengthening, self-reliance, mutual affection, thus glorifying the civilized and heroic nation of Vietnam. The thought of President Ho Chi Minh on “the culture that shines the path for the people” has become the truth, affirming the role of spiritual foundation, the enlightment, the guide of culture for the national development and protection. In recent time, the COVID-19 pandemic has been making multifaceted impacts and great influences on the people’s material and spiritual life. It is in this most difficult time, under the central leadership and guidance of the Party, in response to the appeal of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong together with the participation of the whole political system, the fine traditional values of the nation, like “love thy neighbor as thyself”, “the unbroken leaves cover the tattered leaves”, have been brought into full play, encouraging the entire Party, people and army to pool their efforts and to be of one heart to overcome difficulties and challenges. The facts have proved to the great strength of culture, of the Vietnamese people. With this great strength, Vietnam has placed its complete confidence in the bright future of the nation. All the noble and fine goals charted out by the 13^th Party National Congress will definitely be carried out successfully. Vietnam will absolutely be ever more prosperous and happy so as to be on a par with the powers in the five continents as wished by President Ho Chi Minh./.

-----------------

(1) Ho Chi Minh, Complete works, the Truth National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, tomb 4, p. 7

(2) Ho Chi Minh – Biographical Chronicle, the Truth National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2016, tomb 3, p. 321

(3) Ho Chi Minh, Complete works, Ibid, tomb 1, p. XXV

(4) Ho Chi Minh, Complete works, Ibid, tomb 4, p. 491

(5) Due to the fierce opposition of internal enemies, external invaders, from November 11, 1945, the Party had to withdraw into its clandestine activities (to the 2^nd Party Congress, February 1951), the Party could operate openly, with its name being the Labour Party of Vietnam, so the concept of “Mass organization” as said above was to mention the Communist Party of Vietnam

This article was published in the Communist Review No. 981 (January 2022)