Hanoi (VNA) – For the 2026–2031 tenure, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) will shift immediately from mere campaign launches to action, and each campaign will be accompanied by concrete emulation criteria, evaluation metrics and on-the-ground models from the start.
VFF Vice President Cao Xuan Thao said at a press briefing in Hanoi on May 13 right after the closing of the VFF’s 11th National Congress for the 2026–2031 tenure.
Formalism in campaigns in the crosshairs
Responding to reporters on how to fix shortcomings flagged by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam that “some campaigns and emulation movements remain formalistic and uneven in effect”, VFF Vice President Cao Xuan Thao said the VFF and its affiliated mass organisations are undertaking deeper, more substantive reviews. The 11th Congress identified this as a core area demanding bold reform in the new term.
Going forward, the VFF will redesign campaigns and movements for practical impact, with accountable stakeholders and tangible outcomes as the main yardstick. Movements must directly address the most pressing grassroots concerns such as environment protection, sustainable poverty reduction, social welfare, community-based digital transformation, promotion of learning and creativity, and the building of safe, prosperous and happy residential areas.
After reviewing existing drives, the VFF and its members will select movements targeting new areas matched with the country’s next-phase development demands, such as “All People Engage in Environmental Protection for a Green and Clean Vietnam”, “Digital Literacy for All,” “Say No to Unsafe Food,” and “Say No to Counterfeit and Low-Quality Goods".
Another solution is to minimise formalistic activities such as excessive meetings, briefings, training sessions and other impractical events while scaling up direct community-level guidance and leveraging the role of VFF working committees in residential areas, community self-management groups, exemplary individuals, reputable figures, religious dignitaries and trade union members.
The VFF will also accelerate digital transformation in monitoring emulation movements. Digital platforms will enable it to better capture public aspirations, gauge satisfaction levels and track campaign effectiveness transparently, as an antidote to formalism.
Notably, in the coming term the VFF will treat meaningful public involvement and satisfaction as the supreme criteria for evaluating campaign and emulation movement performance, Thao added.
Five-point mandate for new term
Under the theme “Solidarity – Democracy – Innovation – Creativity – Development”, the congress assembled 1,136 delegates from walks of life nationwide and overseas Vietnamese. Nearly 200 guests attended, including former and incumbent Party, State and VFF leaders, senior officials of ministries and agencies, municipal and provincial Party committees, heroic Vietnamese mothers, Heroes of the People’s Armed Forces, Heroes of Labour in the renewal period, along with representatives of several embassies and international organisations in Vietnam.
Party General Secretary and State President To Lam delivered a keynote address laying out five priority groups of tasks for 2026–2031 for deliberation and approval. These include firmly grasping the principle that “People are the root” with citizens as both drivers and beneficiaries of national renewal, modernising how the power of great national solidarity is gathered and exercised, improving supervision and social feedback to support the Party and State building, safeguarding citizens’ legitimate interests and consolidating social consensus at the grassroots level, and building a modern, streamlined VFF with a contingent of officials close to the communities, substantive digital transformation and long-term vision.
Voicing full confidence in the invincible strength of the people and the great national solidarity, he urged the entire compatriots, comrades, soldiers and overseas Vietnamese to continue deepening solidarity, patriotism and self-reliance to realise the 14th National Party Congress’s Resolution and the 11th VFF Congress’s resolution, contributing to a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, civilised and happy Vietnam steadily advancing towards socialism.
Delegates adopted the 10th-tenure VFF Central Committee’s report for 2024–2026 and a review of the VFF Central Committee and its Presidium and Standing Board’s performance. They also debated and passed amendments and supplements to the VFF Statutes.
The congress set the 11th-tenure VFF Central Committee at 405 members, with a Presidium of 72–100 members and a 12-member Standing Board. As many as 397 individuals were selected through consultation to the VFF Central Committee.
At its first meeting, the new VFF Central Committee democratically chose 70 Presidium members, appointed 12 from the Presidium to the Standing Board, and selected eight Presidium members as part-time Vice Presidents of the VFF Central Committee./.
