National Assembly delegates give opinions on the Draft Law on Local Government

This morning (November 24), the National Assembly held a plenary session in the hall to give opinions on the Draft Law on Local Government. At the discussion session, National Assembly deputies agreed with the necessity of developing a Law on the Organization of Local Government. The promulgation of the Law on the Organization of Local Government is not only to overcome the shortcomings and problems of the Law on the Organization of People's Councils and People's Committees (PCs) after 11 years of implementation, but also to concretize new provisions of the Constitution and the Party's guidelines and policies on innovation in the organization and operation of local governments to enhance autonomy, self-responsibility and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of local government management.

The content of local government organization received many comments from National Assembly deputies. The deputies said that this is an important issue of the country, so it needs to be discussed and carefully considered. The draft proposed 2 options: option 1: In administrative units of districts and wards, only the People's Committee is organized, not the People's Council. Option 2: Local government levels including People's Councils and People's Committees are organized in all administrative units of provinces and centrally run cities; districts, towns, provincial cities, equivalent administrative units of centrally run cities; communes, wards, and towns.

Delegates at the plenary session in the hall (Photo: Quang Trung)

Delegates expressed their agreement with the plan of not organizing People's Councils at the district and ward levels. Delegates Tran Du Lich and Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam (Ho Chi Minh City delegation) said that whether or not there are People's Councils at the district and ward levels must be based on actual effectiveness, avoiding the situation of only being a formality as in some places in the past.

Expressing agreement with not organizing People's Councils at the district and ward levels, delegate Do Thi Hoang (Quang Ninh delegation) said that the option of having only one level of government in urban areas should be chosen because the urban population is large but mainly consists of immigrants with different components, different customs, cultures, and looser community and residential connections than residents in villages in rural areas.

Due to the characteristics of urban economic labor, it is mainly industry and services, and the formation of commercial centers, financial and banking service industries, along with a network of interwoven and continuous scientific and technical infrastructure throughout the area. The demarcation of administrative boundaries within urban areas is only approximate and does not have the full economic and social significance as in rural areas.

The majority of delegates assessed that the two options of having or not having People's Councils at the district and ward levels in the Draft Law did not have a clear basis for analysis. Therefore, the Drafting Committee needs to clarify more convincing scientific arguments. However, expressing their views, delegates Tran Ngoc Vinh (Hai Phong delegation), Danh Ut (Kien Giang), Phuong Thi Thanh (Bac Kan) and many other delegates suggested following option 2, that is, the local government level including People's Councils and People's Committees is organized in all administrative units of provinces and centrally run cities; districts, towns, provincial cities, equivalent administrative units of centrally run cities; communes, wards, and towns.

Delegate Tran Minh Dieu (Quang Binh delegation) suggested: “The design of local government must still follow the direction of organizing government levels including People's Councils and People's Committees in administrative units as option 2 of the Draft is appropriate. This model is in accordance with the very important principle of a democratic institution that where there is power, there is supervision of power by the people”.

Many delegates said that the option of not having People's Councils at the district and ward levels should not be followed, because the summary and implementation of the pilot program of not having People's Councils at the district and ward levels in the past time has not been enough to confirm the results due to lack of theoretical basis. In practice, it is not convincing enough to abolish People's Councils at the district and ward levels, so it is suggested to leave option 2.

These opinions argue that the difference between urban and local governments lies in the fact that due to different socio-economic characteristics, the methods of organizing and implementing tasks are also different, but the people's character and the representative nature of the people's power remain unchanged. The people's character is reflected in the names of the People's Council and the People's Committee. Therefore, the drafting of the law needs to deepen the people's character of the state government, and cannot overemphasize the state administrative management function, thereby obscuring the people's character of the socialist state government.

Delegate Le Anh Son (Nam Dinh delegation) commented: “We should not and should never forget that the People's Council as an elected body representing the people is the fruit of democracy, which all countries do. Which country did not have a People's Council before, and now they are preparing to establish a People's Council, but we are abandoning it. I propose that this time when we discuss the Law on Organization of Local Government, it is also the time for us to declare and end the pilot program of not organizing a People's Council.”

This afternoon, the National Assembly worked in the Hall, voting to pass the Law on the Organization of People's Courts (amended); voting to pass the Law on the Organization of People's Procuracies (amended) and Resolutions implementing these Laws. National Assembly deputies also discussed the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities./.

According to VOV