W.Minh Tuan
On September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. And on the same day, the first Government of independent Vietnam, established by the Viet Minh, was announced, with the name of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
First, the Provisional Revolutionary Government held its first meeting on September 3, 1945. This Government consisted of 13 Ministers and 2 Government members.
8 Ministers were members of the Indochinese Communist Party, 5 were non-partisan, and 2 were members of the Democratic Party.
Uncle Ho Chi Minh was the Chairman of the Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The 2 Ministers of the Democratic Party were Duong Duc Hien, Minister of Youth, and Vu Dinh Hoe, Minister of Education. Lawyer Vu Trong Khanh, non-partisan, became Minister of Justice.
Second, from January 1, 1946, the Provisional Coalition Government of Vietnam was established, replacing the Provisional Revolutionary Government.
Uncle Ho Chi Minh remained Chairman of the Government, concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs.
This Government had 15 Ministers and 1 Secretary of State.
The Viet Minh (communist) had 7 Ministers and the Chairman of the Government.
The Minister of Youth was still Duong Duc Hien, Democratic Party.
The Minister of Education was still Vu Dinh Hoe, Democratic Party.
The Minister of Justice was still Vu Trong Khanh, non-partisan.
The Minister of Social Relief Nguyen Van To, non-partisan.
Third, on January 6, 1946, the first general election for the National Assembly.
Nearly two months later, on March 2, 1946, the first National Assembly held its first session at the Hanoi Opera House. The National Assembly elected the Resistance Coalition Government, replacing the Provisional Coalition Government.
The Resistance Coalition Government had 12 Ministers, of which only 3 were Viet Minh. The rest were non-partisan or other parties.
Uncle Ho Chi Minh, Viet Minh, was President.
Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang, born in 1876, 14 years older than Uncle Ho, from Quang Nam, non-partisan, was Minister of the Interior (ie the Ministry of Public Security).
Lawyer Phan Anh, born in 1912, 34 years old (at that time), from Ha Tinh, non-partisan, was Minister of National Defense.
Lawyer Vu Dinh Hoe, born in 1912, 34 years old, from Hai Duong, Democratic Party, was Minister of Justice.
Engineer Tran Dang Khoa, Democratic Party, born in 1907, from Thua Thien, served as Minister of Transport and Public Works.
Former Emperor Bao Dai served as Supreme Advisor to the Government.
Fourth-On November 3, 1946, the National Coalition Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was established, replacing the Resistance Coalition Government.
The National Coalition Government consisted of 12 Ministers and 3 Secretaries of State.
This Government also had only 3 Viet Minh members:
– Uncle Ho Chi Minh served as President of the Government, concurrently as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
– Mr. Vo Nguyen Giap, Viet Minh, born in 1910, from Quang Binh, 36 years old, served as Minister of National Defense.
– Mr. Le Van Hien, Viet Minh, served as Minister of Finance.
Other ministers are non-partisan.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Hoang Minh Giam, from the Socialist Party.
Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang, non-partisan, remained Minister of the Interior.
Professor Nguyen Van Huyen, Democratic Party, born in 1908, from Ha Dong, is the Minister of Education.
The Minister of Transport is still engineer Tran Dang Khoa, Democratic Party.
The Minister of Justice is still lawyer Vu Dinh Hoe, Democratic Party.
The Secretary of State, teacher Nguyen Van To, non-partisan.
The Doctor Hoang Tich Tri, non-partisan, born in 1908, from Tu Liem, Hanoi, is the Minister of Health.
Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang was also the Acting President, for 4 months when Mr. Ho Chi Minh went to France at the invitation of the French Government, from May to September 1946. Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang fell ill and died in 1947.
The lawyer Phan Anh, non-partisan, was the first Minister of Defense of Uncle Ho Chi Minh’s Government, in 1946. Then, in 1947, he was appointed Minister of Economy. From 1954, Lawyer Phan Anh was the Minister of Industry and Trade, then the Minister of Foreign Trade, until 1976, when he was 64 years old, he retired.
Thus, Mr. Phan Anh was the Minister for 30 years. After leaving the position of Minister, Lawyer Phan Anh also became Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, and Vice Chairman of the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. He died in 1990 in Hanoi.
Professor Nguyen Van Huyen, Democratic Party, received his doctorate in literature in France in 1929. Then, in 1931, he received his doctorate in law also in France. Uncle Ho Chi Minh invited Professor Nguyen Van Huyen to be the Minister of Education, and Professor Nguyen Van Huyen held the position of Minister for 29 years, until his death in 1975.
Governor Phan Ke Toai, former Imperial Commissioner of the Northern Government of the former Emperor Bao Dai, was invited by Uncle Ho to join the Viet Minh Government. In 1947, after Huynh Thuc Khang passed away, President Ho Chi Minh invited Phan Ke Toai to replace Huynh as Minister of the Interior. Phan Ke Toai was then appointed Deputy Prime Minister from 1963 until 1973, when Phan Ke Toai passed away.
Dr. Tran Duy Hung, born in 1912, was invited by President Ho Chi Minh to become Mayor of Hanoi from 1945. Dr. Tran Duy Hung was non-partisan and served as Mayor of Hanoi for the longest time, for 23 years, until 1977, when he was 65 years old, and retired.
After President President Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, and no other non-Communist Party Ministers were appointed.
If Uncle Ho had lived until after 1975, he would certainly have employed many officials of the old Saigon Government.
Because for Uncle Ho, the Government belonged to the Vietnamese people, not to the Communist Party of Vietnam.
And “anyone with talent was invited by the Government to take on national affairs”. And Uncle Ho would certainly have continued to appoint many other non-Communist Party officials to ministerial positions, to ensure a united State, representing the majority of all components and classes of the people, ensuring a “Government of national unity, gathering non-partisan talents” – as Uncle Ho once said in 1946 at the National Assembly.
On October 31, 1946, at the 2nd Session of the 1st National Assembly, Uncle Ho declared before the National Assembly:
“I declare before the National Assembly, before the nation, before the world: I have only one Party, the Vietnamese Party.”
In the world, no communist leader dares to say something as uncommunist as Uncle Ho.
However, today, the later leaders of our Party do not follow Uncle Ho, do not implement Ho Chi Minh’s Thought on personnel work. Now, even a small position of Head of Department in Communes, Districts must be a Party member. That is why there is the practice of running for positions and power.
In the past, if one passed the exam, one would be appointed as an official, regardless of poverty or wealth. That is why there were talented people to help the country.
In the past, Mr. Nguyen Hien, in 1247, during the Tran Dynasty, at the age of 13, passed the exam to become a First Class Scholar and was immediately appointed as a teacher of the Tran King.
After that, Mr. Nguyen Hien became a Mandarin-Minister, like a Minister now.
In the same year 1247, Mr. Le Van Huu, 17 years old, passed the Imperial examination and was appointed as a mandarin, then promoted to the position of Minister of War, like the Minister of National Defense now.
Mr. Le Van Huu was both an official and a historian, and was the greatest historian of our country, Vietnam. Mr. Le Van Huu wrote the greatest history book of our country, Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu.
Nowadays, many ones must lobby, bow, and flatter in order to be appointed.
Therefore, under the current regime of our Party, there have never been as many opportunists as there are today.
And never before have there been so many respected leaders, such as the State President, the National Assembly Chairman, the Ministers, the Politburo members, the Standing member of the Secretariat, the Police Lieutenant General, the Police Major General, the Chairman of Hanoi, the Secretary of Hanoi, the Chairman of Saigon, the Secretary of Saigon,,, who have been corrupt, accepted envelopes, arrested, and disciplined as much as today.
In the past, Mr. Chu Van An in Tran dynasty in 13th century dared to take off his hat, hang up his robe and resigned from office, to protest against the court’s use of many flatterers.
Nowadays, flatterers and opportunists are everywhere, but no one has taken off his hat, hung up his robe and resigned from office.
The moral quality of the public apparatus of our Party today is worse than words can described, much more rotten than our ancestors’ time.
Nowadays, the younger generations in our Party say “following Ho Chi Minh’s Thought”, but in fact they don’t do it.
They just talk, mouth service.
The ideology of greed for power and position is dominating our Party today.
Uncle Ho appointed many famous, honest, exemplary non-party intellectuals and personalities to the positions of Minister and Chairman of Hanoi, but now, our party says “Follow Ho Chi Minh’s Thought”, but does not appoint any non-party intellectuals or personalities, and does not follow Ho Chi Minh’s Thought at all.
It is true that our party lies shamelessly.
The party leaders now stand on the podium, behind is the statue of President Ho Chi Minh, but do not practice Ho Chi Minh’s Thought.
It is truly shameless and deceitful.
Why?