Publicity and action from the Prime Minister's Working Group

On August 1, 2016, in the first meeting held just a few days after the new Government was launched, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: "We have fired too many shots into the air, hitting no one. Now we have to shoot at an address. We cannot just say it's done."

Exactly 18 days later, the Prime Minister's Working Group was established with the task of monitoring, urging, and inspecting the implementation of tasks, conclusions, and directions assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister to ministries, agencies, and localities.

Over the past year, through public meetings with the participation of the press, it can be seen that many issues have been pointed out frankly so that solutions can be found, contributing to tightening administrative discipline with the highest goal as the spirit of the message of the head of the Government is to act and serve.

The story of "why are you testing me" is now forgotten

Obviously, the task of the Working Group is not easy because to achieve the expectations of the Prime Minister and the expectations of the people, it is inevitable that there will be conflicts, must overcome "respect", and require frankness, objectivity and honesty.

Minister, Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung - Head of the Prime Minister's Working Group shared that when conducting inspections of the implementation of tasks, conclusions, and directions assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister to ministries, branches, and localities, the Working Group must first fully study the functions and tasks to see what to inspect, what to say, what content is under the authority of the Working Group, and what points convey the Prime Minister's opinions.

"This is a very sensitive and controversial matter" - Minister Mai Tien Dung emphasized this, because when the Working Group inspected the first units, there was a story "you are also a Minister, I am also a Minister, why are you inspecting and criticizing me!".

"We inspect the implementation of tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, not as an inspection agency. We do not dig into or scrutinize, but together we find out the reasons for not completing the tasks and coordinate to perform the tasks better," said Mr. Mai Tien Dung.

Of course, to increase persuasiveness, the Government Office must also take the lead, ready to admit mistakes if it advises the Prime Minister to assign ministries and branches to perform tasks incorrectly, even in terms of time or conditions. Thereby helping the Prime Minister evaluate the performance of ministries, branches and localities. Most importantly, it contributes to perfecting the institutions and policies issued and put into practice.

From January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, the Government and the Prime Minister assigned 21,914 tasks to ministries, agencies and localities. Overdue tasks that have not been completed account for only 1.38% (overdue tasks in 2014 were: 28.9%; in 2015 were 26.7%; in 2016, before July 2016 when the Prime Minister's Working Group was not yet established, it was 25%, and by December 31, 2016, it was 3.2%).

The story of "hot above, cold below", the top moving but the bottom not moving, according to Minister Mai Tien Dung, also shows that it is important to have movement from the direct advisory agency.

The Prime Minister's Working Group conveys the Prime Minister's instructions, creating motivation for ministers and local leaders to direct more decisively. That spread is demonstrated by the fact that ministries and provinces have Working Groups to help ministers and provincial chairmen supervise work.

“The view that “you are also a Minister, I am also a Minister, why do you inspect me” has now been forgotten, because in fact we help ministries and localities work better, handle problems in coordination” - Mr. Mai Tien Dung shared, at the same time, he said that after a short time, many ministers really wanted the Working Group to come back to help the ministry.

Open and frank

One of the notable points in the inspections of the Prime Minister's Working Group is that there is always the participation of more than 15 press agencies, reflecting fully and honestly, without any "no-go zones". It is known that at first the inspected unit did not "welcome" this. It is not too difficult to understand because in addition to the positive aspects praised by the Prime Minister, the shortcomings, limitations, and weaknesses are also frankly communicated by the Working Group so that people can receive them through the press.

Remember, right after the first working session of the Working Group, the Prime Minister called Minister Mai Tien Dung to remind him when he did not see the press conveying the Prime Minister's instructions on issues that needed to be reviewed when there was still a mindset of asking - giving, pulling interests to the inspected ministry... Recalling this to see that, with the determination of the head of the Government, the Working Group must not be afraid of collision, must be open and transparent.

“The Prime Minister is very transparent and has the press accompanying him, so if the Working Group says something wrong or checks something wrong, it is not acceptable. If the checks are correct, ministries, branches and localities are required to strictly implement them,” said Mr. Mai Tien Dung, emphasizing that the Working Group is objective and clear when working.

The government cannot serve without providing full and public information to the people. Clearly recognizing this, in addition to inspection, the Prime Minister also decided to establish a website to receive opinions from people and businesses and has so far received nearly 6,000 opinions. The responses are also posted publicly to clarify responsibilities. However, there are also agencies, units and localities that have not seriously implemented this, including the role of the head.

“The higher administrative agencies requesting the local authorities to resolve this also creates pressure, but if you do well, it would not be like that. The majority of businesses and people's reflections are correct, the phenomenon of frustration but not being resolved by competent authorities is real" - Mr. Mai Tien Dung emphasized that it is the transparency that makes the lower administrative levels take it more seriously.

"Why is the work being done slowly, why is it sluggish? Is it because you are too good that you "play around", are too complicated, harass, or is it because you are not competent enough, do not dare to consult with others, do not dare to propose, handle for fear of making mistakes" - Minister Mai Tien Dung.

Talking about the requirement to "hit the target", Minister Mai Tien Dung said that after more than 1 year, the work of the Working Group has also met the initial expectations of the Prime Minister.

The inspection is not a “one-off” inspection, but a targeted inspection for each period. For example, when a new Government is established, the highest priority is to review and perfect the institutions, followed by inspection to cut official and unofficial costs for businesses, remove barriers in specialized inspections and related conditions. In more than 40 inspections of ministries, branches and localities, the Working Group conducted 9 specialized inspections and found that it “hit the target and went the right way”.

“It is normal to have conflicts, but I urge you not to bring them to my house. The Prime Minister is determined like that, so it cannot be otherwise. The pressure is not only on me but also on all ministries, branches and localities for a Government of action” - Minister and Chairman Mai Tien Dung shared, at the same time, he said that in 2018, the issue of discipline and order will continue to be raised./