The head of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on the occasion of National Day, continued to identify that the party was consistent with Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought… but not dogmatic… General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong just mentioned this while visiting the ‘Ho Chi Minh Relic Site’ in Hanoi on September 1, 2022.
Mr. Trong asked to continue to focus on studying Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style to propagate, consistently apply, and develop Marxism-Leninism in the specific conditions of Vietnam… but not dogmatic… with the aim of bringing a good life to the people. (!?)
Independent journalist Nguyen Ngoc Gia, when answering RFA on September 2, commented:
“First of all, socialism of the Communist Party of Vietnam is based on the Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Meanwhile, China and North Korea are also communists but abandoned Marxist-Leninist philosophy a long time ago, they have their own doctrines. Regarding the issue of Mr. Trong’s statement, it must be clearly stated that Mr. Trong is trying to stick to socialism according to Marxist-Leninist philosophy, only later did they add Ho Chi Minh’s thought even though it had nothing… Socialism according to Marxist-Leninist philosophy was answered by the fact that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe in the 90s of the last century. Thus, Mr. Trong is being consistent with what has disappeared.”
According to journalist Nguyen Ngoc Gia, the insistence on socialism according to the Marxist-Leninist philosophical school is meaningless persistence. And when Mr. Trong said that he was steadfast in socialism but not dogmatic, journalist Nguyen Ngoc Gia said that Mr. Trong himself was being very dogmatic. Because dogma is what we believe blindly, even though it’s gone, even though it has no scientific basis… that we still carry. Gia continued:
“Here I want to emphasize more, that is, perhaps Mr. Trong in particular and the Communist Party of Vietnam, in general, are confusing philosophy with politics. Because philosophy is the foundation for all sciences, it is not politics. Politics is a subject of social science, precisely because they do not understand well, they are vague and maybe they are confused… has made Vietnamese society from 1945, until 1975 and until now, for nearly half a century, what they call going up to socialism doesn’t know where it’s going?”
Because according to Mr. Gia, the most basic thing is that the Vietnamese communist authorities do not have an ideology, and do not have a specific philosophical school for them to follow. It makes Vietnamese society forever lag behind, unlike any other country.
In his speech, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong added that being consistent with Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought is to build and defend the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland. This is a matter of vital importance to the regime and a solid foundation of the Party. According to him, party members must be firm but avoid dogma. (!?)
A resident in the central region, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, told RFA on September 2:
“Socialism in Vietnam no longer follows Marx’s principles. Now people only keep one part of Marxism which is a dictatorship of the proletariat, ‘a dictatorship’, and ‘one-party’… but not that they keep Marxism. There is not a single member of the Party, especially in the Politburo, the Central Committee, or the leadership, or perhaps even Mr. Trong does not believe in socialism, but he continues to advertise like this to strengthen his power. But now, if they don’t cling to socialism, what do they cling to?”
Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, despite his unrelenting requirements, continued to affirm that the party’s line was correct, in line with objective laws and development trends of the times.
Professor Nguyen Dinh Cong, who has more than 30 years of party life, quit the party in 2016, when talking to RFA regarding this issue, commented:
“Mr. Trong says so, logic says so, he says firmly but not dogmatically, but can he do it? He couldn’t do it, when directing, he did it differently. Mr. Trong said, renewing but insisting on Marxism-Leninism, those two contradict each other. If you are steadfast in something, what else is there to innovate? Mr. Trong said firmly but without dogmatism, he said so himself, but outsiders, especially activists… people are clearly aware that Mr. Trong is a very conservative, very conservative and dogmatic.”
According to Professor Nguyen Dinh Cong, speaking like Mr. Trong is just saying things through, because when he says ‘persistence‘, others criticize him for saying it’s ‘dogmatic‘… so Mr. Trong has to deny it.
The call is not mechanical, but General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong thinks that an unprincipled ‘innovation‘ is also very easy to deviate… Professor Nguyen Dinh Cong said, how can innovation be achieved:
“Actually, in the past thirty or forty years, Mr. Trong, or communists in general, has talked about innovation… but critics say that nothing has been changed. Mr. Trong said it was innovative, but in fact, he returned to the old job that people did. For example, people used to trade freely… then they banned… now they removed the ban and say it’s innovation.”
The reality shows that not only Vietnam, countries that follow the socialist ideal of communism so far, but no country has also succeeded with the idea of “rich people, strong country, fair, civilized, and democratic society” as the goal they set out.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
