The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee held a conference in Hanoi on February 19 to collect opinions from its staff and former officials on draft amendments to the 1992 Constitution.

Participants at the conference agreed that over the past two decades, the 1992 Constitution has proved its historical significance. However, it should be amended to suit the country’s new situation in the context of profound changes in the world.

They focused their comments on issues relating to human rights, the rights of citizens, the role and position of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the VFF and the Constitutional Council as well as the national defence and the upholding of Ho Chi Minh thoughts.

According to Dr. Pham Xuan Hang, former head of the Hanoi chapter of the VFF, the front is defined by the Constitution as a political foundation of the people’s administration.

However, the institutionalisation of some aspects of the VFF’s operations has failed to match its position, he said.

Hang held that the social supervision and criticism should be further specified in the Constitution in the context that Vietnam ’s political system is led by the only political organisation - the CPV.

Tran Dinh Phung, member of the Presidium of the VFF Central Committee, agreed on the need to further clarify the nature and leadership of the CPV as the vanguard of the Vietnamese working class, working people and the whole nation.

It is necessary to make the CPV’s leadership of the State and society clearer, he said, affirming that the leadership of the Party is the leading decisive factor to the success of the revolution.

The Party must raise its political stuff, virtues and organisation capacity to better tackle problems arising from the reality of the revolution while preventing the risk of degradation among its members and officials, Phung said.

He also stressed the need to institutionalise the leadership of the CPV in the amended Constitution.

Former Vice President of the VFF Central Committee Nguyen Van Hang focused on specifying the responsibility of Party leaders and members before the law.

Sharing views with Hang, Le Truyen, another former Vice President of the VFF Central Committee, further stated that there should be a law enabling the Party to operate in an open and transparent manner.-VNA