Opening of the 20th Session of the National Assembly Standing Committee
At this session, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly considered and commented on many issues, including giving opinions on some points of disagreement in three draft laws.
On the morning of January 10th, at the National Assembly building, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly held its 20th session, chaired by National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
In her opening remarks, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan stated that the 20th session would last for one and a half days. The National Assembly Standing Committee would consider and comment on many issues, including providing feedback on several points of disagreement in three draft laws, namely:
The National Defense Law (amended), the Cybersecurity Law, the Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units; providing opinions on the draft Resolution of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly detailing some articles of the 2015 State Audit Law; considering the adjustment of the capital utilization structure of government bonds for the period 2017-2020 managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Ta Pao Irrigation System project in Binh Thuan province and the Kroong Pach Thuong reservoir project in Dak Lak province.
Also at this session, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly heard a report on the implementation and assignment of tasks for preparing the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26).
Following the opening remarks by National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the National Assembly Standing Committee discussed the issuance of a Resolution detailing certain provisions of the 2015 State Audit Law. However, the Standing Committee disagreed with the issuance of the resolution, stating that its content fell outside its authority.
Specifically, one of the proposals of the State Audit Office when drafting the resolution is to provide detailed regulations on handling violations of the law on state auditing in Article 71 of the Law on State Audit.
"In 2017 alone, there were 121 cases where documents were not provided, preventing audit teams from carrying out planned audits," said State Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc.
Mr. Ho Duc Phoc also cited the fact that the number of audit recommendations from the State Audit Office that are not implemented by the units remains high (in 2015, 35.7% of financial recommendations, equivalent to VND 8,179 billion; in 2016, 24.4% of financial recommendations, equivalent to VND 5,097 billion, were not implemented by the units)... leading to losses in state budget revenue, reduced effectiveness of audit activities, and undermined the strictness of the law.
The reason cited is that the current legal system regarding State Audit in our country is incomplete and inconsistent, lacking regulations on sanctions, and specifically, there is no legal document stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of State Audit.
Commenting on this matter, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu stated that only the National Assembly has the authority to issue regulations on administrative sanctions. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly does not issue resolutions containing provisions on the authority to impose administrative sanctions.
Nguyen Khac Dinh, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee, also argued that administrative penalties related to property rights and human rights must be regulated by laws enacted by the National Assembly, not by resolutions issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee.
Concluding this discussion, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien emphasized that the Standing Committee of the National Assembly did not issue a resolution as requested by the State Audit Office containing provisions on the authority to impose administrative penalties. The State Audit Office needs to summarize and review all the contents of the current law and submit a proposal to the National Assembly to amend the Law on State Audit at an appropriate time.
Next, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly gave its opinion on adjusting the capital utilization structure of government bonds for the period 2017-2020 managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Ta Pao Irrigation System project in Binh Thuan province and the Krong Pach Thuong Reservoir project in Dak Lak province.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong explained that the compensation, support, and resettlement project for the Ta Pao Irrigation System was approved in 2008, and has been underway for nine years. Changes in policies and regulations have led to a significant increase in the total investment, resulting in the allocated capital of 470 billion VND being insufficient for compensation, support, and resettlement. The total additional capital needed for compensation, support, and resettlement in this project is 170 billion VND. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposes cutting some items in the construction component to transfer 170 billion VND to the compensation, support, and resettlement component.
Speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the National Assembly affirmed that the Standing Committee of the National Assembly strongly supports the implementation of irrigation projects to serve the production and daily life of the people. However, the implementation of the two aforementioned projects has not been timely and requires a decisive and thorough solution. If construction funds are used for compensation, there will be a shortage of construction funds, leading to further delays in the projects. The Chairman of the National Assembly requested the Government to clearly report on the adjustment to increase the total investment amount, the reasons for the increase, etc., and then submit it to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly once to ensure the projects are completed soon and water resources are available to the people.
Concluding this discussion, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien emphasized the necessity of completing the two irrigation projects. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly agreed that there was insufficient basis to adjust the investment capital from the construction component to the compensation component. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly assigned the Government to review and implement Articles 79 and 81 of the Law on Public Investment correctly; reassess and inspect the project, considering its scale and total investment capital, and make official adjustments. The Government will then report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on the total investment level, scale, and completion time at the next meeting.
In addition, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly requested that the Government review all other irrigation works in the same situation and submit a comprehensive report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly at the next meeting.
