In the United States, most people are educated to understand that democracy means multi-party elections and that any country that does not have multi-party elections is repressive and undemocratic. However, democracy simply means “rule of the people” and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with multi-party elections.

For example, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single party state that is also democratic. While this concept might seem confusing to many educated in “the West”, it is quite true. On March 4th, delegates from the Communist Party USA’s Hello Comrade Program met with Truong Thi Ngoc Anh, Vice Chairperson of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), to learn more about Vietnam’s unique and people centered approach to democracy.

Comrade Ngoc Anh explained to the delegation how the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations work, and why the Vietnamese Constitution calls it “the political base of people’s government.”

The VFF is a free alliance of all of the major mass peoples’ organizations, political organizations, and socio-political organizations in Vietnam. Some of the largest member organizations are the Vietnam Women’s Union, the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, various religious organizations, labor unions, diaspora organizations etc. While the Front is Communist led, most of its members are not members of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In fact, the Vietnam Women’s Union alone has over 13 million members, making it more than double the size of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

One of the main roles of the Vietnam Fatherland Front is to ensure that the people rule the country, or as the Vietnamese refer to it “ensuring the people’s mastery.” In other words, the Fatherland Front ensures that Vietnam functions democratically. The VFF uses many tools to ensure that it completes this mission.

The VFF and its member organizations are established in every province and operate at all levels, from the grassroots to the national level. They collect the opinions and feedback of the people and report on it to the government. In fact, the National Assembly (Vietnam’s legislature) cannot pass a law without first receiving the feedback of the VFF.

All Vietnamese are encouraged to gather and give their opinions about anything they like to the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

While the VFF works year-round, a special time is set aside annually in mid-November for The National Great Solidarity – Vietnamese Cultural Heritage Week. During this time all Vietnamese are encouraged to gather in their towns and give their opinions about anything they like to the VFF. This is not only conducted across Vietnam, but also in the Vietnamese diaspora where the VFF works tirelessly to try and include their voices as well. After the people’s opinions and ideas are collected, the VFF puts together a report for the government so that the government can be as informed as possible about what the people are thinking and what they want from their government.

The VFF also collects the opinions of its member organizations, such as labor groups, religious groups, youth groups, the Women’s Union, etc. These opinions are also shared with the government so that it can be better informed on the issues that are important to these organizations.

The VFF also plays a role as the way for the people to supervise the government. This is done through managing elections and playing an important role in the anti-corruption campaign.

Candidates for elections do not need to be members of the Communist Party of Vietnam to run for office.

Despite what some may assume, candidates for elections do not need to be members of the Communist Party of Vietnam to run for office. (Currently there are 14 independent members of the Vietnamese legislature, a number significantly higher than the 3 independent members of the United States Congress). The VFF supervises the nomination and election process, making sure that its elections are conducted freely, and according to the laws and constitution of Vietnam.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front also monitors the government and the Communist Party of Vietnam, working to stop abuse of power and corruption at all levels. The VFF has played a major role, encouraging the people to participate in the governing process and to make sure those in power act according to the law and in the best interests of the people.

Another important role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front is to be a unifying force across Vietnam and even into the diaspora. All Vietnamese citizens and peoples are masters of Vietnam and they all should work together to help build a better future for Vietnam. It’s ironic that in multi-party liberal democracies, elections and the so-called democratic process are used to divide the people. The Vietnamese democratic system seeks to bring everyone together.

The Hello Comrade Delegation was very moved and excited to learn about how Vietnam practices democracy. One delegate even said that he wished there was a similar system for the people’s voices to be heard in the United States, like they are in Vietnam. The delegates all agreed that it was important to bring these ideas back to the United States to firstly share with people back home how a people’s democracy can work, and secondly to correct the anti-Communist slander that Vietnam and other Communist led countries are not democracies.

Image: Vietnam voting by Rachel Black (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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