Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng meets local people of the central Thanh Hóa Province in this photo dated January 2010. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng passed away on Friday afternoon at the age of 80.

Despite whole-hearted treatment and care from the Party, the State, leading medical professors and doctors and his family, due to old age and severe illness, the Party leader breathed his last at 1.38pm on July 19, 2024 at Central Military Hospital 108.

Here is a translation of the article titled "PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY NGUYỄN PHÚ TRỌNG - AN EMINENT LEADER WHO DEVOTES HIS WHOLE LIFE TO THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE" written by Politburo Member, President of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam Tô Lâm.

He wrote:

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng, a thinker, a culturalist, a theoretical flag of the Party, and an eminent student who has constantly studied and followed great President Hồ Chí Minh’s ideology, morality, and lifestyle, has devoted his lifetime to the revolutionary cause of our Party and nation, as well as the country and the people.

Being tested through the revolutionary practice for more than 55 years, and with his strategic vision, sharp thinking closely linked to practice review, comrade Nguyễn Phú Trọng and the Party Central Committee have creatively applied and developed Marxism-Leninism and Hồ Chí Minh's ideology and constantly built a purer and stronger Party; built a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people; and supplemented, perfected and led the successful implementation of the renewal policy, building our country with such a “fortune, strength, international prestige and position today that it had never enjoyed before.”

The Party affairs and building have held a particularly important position during his revolutionary life. Creatively applying Hồ Chí Minh's ideology on Party building, comrade Nguyễn Phú Trọng has deeply clarified the nature of the Party and its role in the national renewal and the building of the ruling Party through the reality of renewal in Việt Nam.

Then, he and the Party Central Committee have worked out and led the successful implementation of strategic policies on Party building and rectification; resolutely and persistently fought individualism and degradations within the Party, and corruption and misconduct, while constantly improving revolutionary ethics, mettle, intellectual level, and pioneer role and promoting good traditions and close-knit ties with the people.

Under the Party leadership, headed by Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, our Party has demonstrated its mettle and wisdom, leading the entire Party, people and entire army to win numerous great achievements in the cause of national renewal, defeat all sabotage plots of hostile forces, and build a truly "moral and civilised" society.

As Chairman of the National Assembly and Party General Secretary, he is always concerned with the issue of building a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Under the leadership of comrade Nguyễn Phú Trọng, for the first time our Party has issued a Resolution on continuing to build and perfect the Vietnamese socialist rule-of-law state in the new period, setting the goals of "perfecting the Vietnamese socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people, led by the Communist Party of Việt Nam; having a complete legal system that is strictly and consistently implemented; respecting the Constitution and the law, and respecting, ensuring and effectively protecting human rights and citizens' rights; State power being unified, clearly assigned, closely coordinated, and effectively controlled; a professional, rule-of-law, and modern administration and judiciary; the State apparatus being streamlined, pure, and operating effectively and efficiently; a contingent of cadres, civil servants, and public employees with sufficient qualifications, capacity, true professionalism, and integrity; modern, effective national governance; meeting the requirements of rapid and sustainable development of the country, becoming a developed, high-income socialist-oriented country by 2045.

Thoroughly grasping the ideology of Hồ Chí Minh and deeply recognising the important role and position of culture: "Culture is the soul of the nation", "As long as culture endures, the nation endures", Nguyễn Phú Trọng, an eminent leader on the Party's cultural front, has dedicated significant efforts to building an advanced culture rich in national identity which really serves as a spiritual foundation of society, an endogenous strength, and a crucial driving force for national development.

Under the leadership of Nguyễn Phú Trọng, the documents of the 13th National Party Congress comprehensively and profoundly address the cultural sector.

The national conference on culture, held after more than 70 years, marked a milestone that connected the ideology and actions of the entire Party, people and army in strongly promoting the role of culture in national construction and defence, fulfilling the aspiration for a prosperous and happy country.

With profound political insight and strategic thinking, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, along with the CPV Central Committee, developed Việt Nam's foreign policy, summarised practical experience and shaped the "Bamboo Diplomacy" art.

Under the leadership of the Party and directly General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, the “Bamboo Diplomacy” identity has been strongly promoted, creating historic turning points and substantial changes in Việt Nam's relations with major partners.

Việt Nam's position, prestige, and image as a reliable partner, active and responsible member have never been shining on the international stage and Việt Nam has never integrated so deeply into the global economy, international politics, and human civilisation as it is today.

In his concurrent roles as State President, Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council, and Commander-in-Chief of the Việt Nam People’s Army, Nguyễn Phú Trọng always paid profound attention to the People's Army and People's Public Security.

He focused on building strong and united army and public security forces. He frequently reminded the armed forces of deeply absorbing, studying, and following the ideology, morality and lifestyle of President Hồ Chí Minh, stressing that “Honour is the most sacred and noble thing” and urging them to wholeheartedly serve the country and the people, “rely on the people while working”, “be truly loyal, respect, and love the people”, maintain close ties with the people, protect their interests, and make them increase their trust and support.

Under the leadership of the Party and directly General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, the mission of building an elite, streamlined, strong, truly pure clean and strong army that meets the requirements of the new situation has achieved significant results.

The public security and military forces have been staying united and closely working together, truly serving as the sword and shield, and the two wings of a bird, to safeguard peace and stability for national development.

Comrade Nguyễn Phú Trọng's consistent thought is about the people, the humans, the wholehearted devotion and service to the people, building humans and taking the people as the subject and the centre of the renewal process.

Regarding the Party, he affirmed “our Party must take the highest sense of responsibility to the people, take care of the material and spiritual lives of the people"; "the Party's policy that does not reflect the interests of the people, the country, and the nation, and is not aligned with the rule of historical evolution, is a wrong policy,” "close connection with the people is the rule of existence, development and operation of the Party, and the decisive factor creating the Party's strength.”

Analysing the difference between the socialist rule-of-law state and the capitalist rule-of-law state, he clearly stated that "the socialist rule-of-law state is different from the capitalist rule-of-law state in terms of nature: the rule of law under the capitalist regime is actually 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 exercise the people's right to mastery, ensure and protect the interests of the majority of the people".

Regarding the socialist market economy, he held that a basic characteristic, an important attribute of the socialist orientation in the market economy in Việt Nam is that the economy must be linked with society, economic policies must be unified with social policies, and economic growth must go hand in hand with the implementation of social progress and equality in every step, every policy and throughout the development process.

"Every economic policy must aim at social development goals, encouraging lawful enrichment along with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, taking care of people with meritorious services and those who are in difficult circumstances."

Under the leadership of comrade Nguyễn Phú Trọng, our Party has issued resolutions on socio-economic development, ensuring national defence and security in six economic regions across the country until 2030, with a vision to 2045, set goals, visions, directions, and solutions to create strong and breakthrough development, contributing to successfully realising the country's goal of 100 years under the Party's leadership, 100 years of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam.

By the middle of the 21st century, our country is set to become a developed nation, fulfilling President Hồ Chí Minh’s desire of bringing our country to be on par with the powers on the five continents.

All his life, Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng has persistently devoted himself to the revolutionary cause of our Party and nation with an iron spirit and will, and has not stepped back in the face of obstacles and difficulties.

He affirmed himself a great personality, considering “honour as the most sacred and noble thing", upholding the principles and devoting all his life to the country and the people.

He is truly a typical example in terms of pure revolutionary morality, "fairness and impartiality", simple lifestyle, democratic, dedicated and scientific working style, and respect and love for people.

He has been highly respected, trusted and loved by officials, Party members and the people, and esteemed and highly appreciated by international friends.

We firmly believe that under the Party leadership, we will steadfastly apply and creatively develop Marxism-Leninism, Hồ Chí Minh's ideology, and the theory of the Party's renewal line; persist with national independence and socialism; and the principles on Party building.

The entire Party, people, and army will stay united and unified, and join efforts to capture opportunities and overcome challenges, building a truly pure and comprehensively strong Party and political system; rapidly and sustainably developing the country, and firmly safeguarding the Fatherland; turning Việt Nam into a developing country with modern industry and upper middle income by 2030 when the Party marks its 100th founding anniversary, creating a solid foundation to achieve the goal of becoming a developed, high-income socialist-oriented country by 2045 when the nation celebrates its 100th founding anniversary. — VNA/VNS