Proposal to 'reduce 10 provinces': Easy to 'divide into factions'

Former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office Nguyen Sy Dung analyzed that there is currently no evidence to show that merging to reduce the number of 10 provinces will be good, while the evidence that "separating provinces is not bad" is very clear and practical.

Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung is former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office.

- Discussing administrative reform at this session, there were some opinions proposing a merger to reduce the number of provinces by about 10 compared to the present. What is your opinion on this?

- In fact, in history, we have merged provinces before, when the whole country had only 40 provinces. But then we also realized that this was not good, the "assembled" provinces could not integrate because the ability to manage such a large area was very difficult. So we separated them again.

Now, talking about the merger and separation, to answer the question of whether or not to merge, we need evidence. Recently, the valuable evidence we have is that the merger did not go well, causing the provinces after the merger to stagnate, and their management capacity or cultural traditions… could not be reconciled. For example, Nghe An and Ha Tinh, although so close, still could not be resolved. The difficulty was identified at that time because the leaders of Nghe An and Ha Tinh could not calculate and balance many issues, which led to a deadlock.

After the separation, it seems that the provinces are more developed. So the evidence we have is that the separation of provinces is not bad, while talking about merging at this time, there is no evidence that merging will be good.

- There is also an opinion that the current situation is different, now technology has developed a lot, especially information technology, which helps communication and connection better, helping one person to manage a much larger area, don't you think so?

- It is also possible that time management could be easier and so it is not necessary for leaders to go to the grassroots level but with other tools that can be done. So there is also a basis for considering the import. Another argument I have heard is about the current general economic trend that the larger the economic space, the higher the economic efficiency. That could also be another argument.

But if you think like that, you also have to consider balancing the difficulties you will encounter to see which side is bigger.

First of all, the framework for forming a boundary, an administrative unit of territory is not simply the mechanical aspect of land area, population but also the framework of tradition, culture, the cohesion of the people, the differences between regions. The reason we had to separate the provinces in the past was also due to that factor. In a residential area, similarities in many things will make administration easier, the simplest is that the same voice makes it easier to understand each other or common views, common habits, common standards are easy to share.

But calculations show that provinces with populations under 800,000 people that also maintain a management apparatus are quite wasteful. If we implement “reducing 10 provinces” like that, thousands of officials and civil servants will be streamlined, thereby saving thousands of billions of dong in regular expenses. In addition, when merging, the savings in the use of public assets will also be huge?

- I see an objective reality that whether the merged localities want it or not, it is easy to form two factions. For example, the merger of Ha Tay into Hanoi, the reality is that there will always be the "old Hanoi faction" and the "old Ha Tay faction" that people will have to look at and calculate, if Hanoi people get this position, Ha Tay people must be placed in another position. That is in an easily reconcilable area like the capital, how complicated will it be in other provinces?

- Furthermore, I think that information technology can help reduce geographical distances, but it does not help improve the strategic level of leaders. How to find and select people who can plan policies and strategies for a large territory is not an easy question to answer. If the previous cadres were not qualified enough to plan for a small province, then now they have to come up with a development strategy for a province twice as large, then I don't know what to do.

- So you mean you are not convinced with the proposal to merge at least 10 provinces?

- Not convincing because I have not seen all the data analyzed to have an exact answer as to whether it is better to import. We should learn to make policies in that direction, there must be analysis to see which is greater between gain and loss, then decide.

- It is also said that maintaining many small provinces is a form of system fragmentation. As long as the leaders are willing to humble themselves for the common benefit of the people, the province merger can be done. The problem is that every leader wants to keep his "place" and his area?

- That's different. If there is a division of the apparatus, if there is one, then keeping a small area will make the division smaller, but if merging into a large area will make the division larger, right? Segregation or not must be seen in a market economy. If the market economy develops strongly, it is not too big of a problem because the market will overcome that obstacle on its own, and those who hold the divisional ideology will lose.

For example, Binh Duong - a province with such a small area but such development, try to establish a separate state to see if it can be achieved. Binh Duong's human resources are almost all from the North. Binh Duong is able to develop because the human resources from the whole country are pouring in. If the leaders establish a separate state, they will "die" immediately.

It can be said that the market economy does not accept separatism, even if it wanted to, it would not be possible, and smart leaders will see that separatism means… death. That is not to mention if there is separatism, who will sell the products to?

But it is true that there is a problem of “localism” ideology, that is, local leaders pay little attention to national interests, only focus on their own interests, and sometimes local interests and national interests are not the same. For example, this province has a port but other provinces want to use that port but have difficulty while that port should serve the whole region.

Such localism cannot be overcome by integration, but there is a coordinating hand of the nation. In fact, integration and separation can only make localism greater.

Thank you!

According to Dan Tri