Part 2: When people know, people discuss, people decide
Practical experience in the work of arranging administrative units in the period of 2023 - 2025 in Nghe An shows that: "The province sticks to the district, the district sticks to the commune, the commune sticks to the village, the village sticks to the household" and arouses the awareness and responsibility of "mastery" of the people to discuss and reach an agreement on the arrangement plan.
Practical experience in the work of arranging administrative units in the period of 2023 - 2025 in Nghe An shows that: "The province sticks to the district, the district sticks to the commune, the commune sticks to the village, the village sticks to the household" and arouses the awareness and responsibility of "mastery" of the people to discuss and reach an agreement on the arrangement plan.
PV Group • August 30, 2024
The name of an administrative unit represents the historical tradition, the imprints associated with the locality, the pride that has been cultivated and built by generations of people there, and their dreams entrusted to that place name. Not to mention, localities may have different beliefs, religions, and customs.
Naming a new area after a merger is therefore a difficult, complicated, and sensitive issue; if not carefully, specifically, closely, and appropriately calculated in accordance with the specific situation, conditions, and circumstances of each locality, it will affect the psychology of officials and people, easily create public outrage, and may even cause unnecessary conflicts and contradictions.
Of course, over the past time, the story of naming new administrative units after the arrangement has always been of great interest to the people and public opinion. That is also the most central issue in the process of arranging administrative units.
In Thanh Chuong, the two communes Thanh Giang and Thanh Mai will be merged. The Steering Committee for the District Administrative Unit Arrangement has researched and prioritized historical and cultural factors, and proposed two names: Minh Trieu or Tan Dan. Similarly, the initial proposed name of the new commune based on the merger of two communes: Thanh Hoa and Thanh Chi is Vinh Tho. However, these are tentative plans, the core issue is to listen to people's opinions, encourage people to discuss to decide and implement in a practical way.
Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong District, Trinh Van Nha, said: The initial plan of the district is only for guidance purposes, while the viewpoint of the District Steering Committee is that the names of the new communes after the merger must respect the opinions of local officials and people. After listening to the feedback of leaders, officials, party members, and people about the most optimal plan, Thanh Giang and Thanh Mai communes agreed to choose the new commune name Mai Giang. Thanh Hoa and Thanh Chi communes decided to name the new commune Thanh Qua with high consensus from the grassroots.
The district's initial plan is only for guidance purposes, while the District Steering Committee's viewpoint is that the names of new communes after the merger must respect the opinions of local officials and people.
Mr. Trinh Van Nha - Deputy Secretary of District Party Committee, Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee
In Yen Thanh district, in the plan to reorganize Yen Thanh town and Hoa Thanh commune to form a town with the proposed name of Hoa Thanh. The majority of cadres, party members, and people agree with the merger policy so that the district town can be expanded and have more space for development. However, the most confusing and worrying story for many people is whether to choose the new name Hoa Thanh or keep the name Yen Thanh town?
Faced with that reality, the Party Committee, the government, the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations of the town and the Executive Committees of the blocs have proactively grasped public opinion, mobilized people in a persistent, cautious and certain manner on the basis of firmly grasping and understanding the aspirations of the people. Each mass organization is responsible for mass mobilization among its members. The group leaders and deputy group leaders of inter-family groups are responsible for communicating the thoughts of the households in the group... The superiors do not "leave it all to the grassroots", but directly participate in accompanying and supporting. The Head of the Yen Thanh District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee and the Head of the District People's Committee's Justice Department directly participate in people's meetings, inter-family group meetings and go to households to provide all necessary information to the people.
Secretary of the Party Cell and Head of the Front Work Committee of Block 4, Yen Thanh Town, Ms. Cao Thi Nhung said: “At first, the people's thoughts and psychology were quite "tense", but thanks to the focus on mass mobilization measures and solutions, the people basically agreed. The result of the vote to collect opinions on the merger with a consensus rate of more than 93%".
Sharing experiences in mass mobilization work in administrative unit arrangement, comrade Nguyen Cong Chuc - Standing Committee member, Head of the Mass Mobilization Committee of Yen Thanh District Party Committee concluded: Mass mobilization work is carried out synchronously by Party committees, authorities, organizations and each cadre and party member. The team of group leaders, deputy group leaders of inter-family groups, prestigious people in the community and religious dignitaries and officials have promoted their responsibility to propagate and mobilize people's consensus. In addition, all levels of branches and functional forces have also shown a firm and determined attitude in fighting against extremist elements with opposing ideologies and disturbing the situation.
The process of arranging administrative units, from the policy to the unification of the new name, has been promoted by the Party Committee and the government with the mechanism of "people know, people discuss, people decide" in accordance with the characteristics and situation of each locality. The process of implementing the arrangement of administrative units in Nghe An shows that all levels are not "mechanical", not rigidly "mechanical", but have created high consensus in most residential communities.
In the period of 2023 - 2025, Hung Nguyen district will reduce 3 commune-level administrative units, leaving 15 units (1 town and 14 communes). Accordingly, Thinh My commune will be established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of the communes: Hung My, Hung Thinh; Thong Tan commune will be established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of the communes: Hung Thong and Hung Tan; and Phuc Loi commune will be established on the basis of merging the entire natural area and population of the communes: Hung Phuc and Hung Loi.
The People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district has established a Steering Committee and a Steering Committee to collect voters' opinions on the Project on rearranging commune-level administrative units. At the same time, it has issued many directive documents related to the establishment of groups to collect voters' opinions in residential areas; making lists and posting lists of voters to collect opinions; providing guidance on organizing the collection of voters' opinions...
The District Party Committee's Propaganda Department and the District People's Committee's Internal Affairs Department jointly organized thematic conferences on "Implementing the arrangement of commune-level administrative units in the period of 2023 - 2025" in 3 "pairs" of merged communes for all commune-level cadres, civil servants and those who directly participate in the work in the hamlets to participate in the opinion-gathering groups in 6 communes subject to merger.
In each locality subject to rearrangement, a plan has been issued to organize the collection of voters' opinions, increase the time for propaganda through the radio system, social networks and propaganda at commune headquarters, cultural houses of hamlets about the plan to rearrange commune-level administrative units; publicly post the list of voters and the date to organize the collection of voters' opinions...
Secretary of the Party Cell of Hamlet 4, Hung Thinh Commune (Hung Nguyen), Mr. Pham Xuan Diet said: Through propaganda, mobilization, and persuasion, people are aware of the benefits of merging communes. People also understand their responsibilities, obligations, and powers in the process of arranging administrative units. Therefore, when conducting the consultation, 100 voters participated, of which 95.3% agreed with the commune merger plan.
Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen District Le Pham Hung said: Concerns related to the settlement of redundant cadres, civil servants, and non-professional workers; the selection of locations for new commune headquarters after the merger were all promptly informed by the district, creating a common consensus among cadres, party members and people. The selection of new commune headquarters after the merger was based on factors such as favorable location in terms of traffic system, better investment in infrastructure, large campus area and other cultural and social factors. All for the development of the new unit after the merger.
Some localities also facilitate people to collect opinions by distributing ballots and collecting opinions at home for those who are in poor health, busy with work, or due to circumstances cannot come to vote at the concentrated area. For example, in Quynh Luu district, in all 15 communes and towns subject to the arrangement, there are a total of 137 voter opinion groups that distribute ballots and collect opinions at each household.
After consulting with the people, People's Council delegates at all levels held meetings with a high consensus rate on the policy of administrative unit arrangement. In the whole province, only 2 communes had 96% and 95.65% of the People's Council delegates participating in the agreement; while other communes and districts all reached 100%.
(To be continued)
