Part 4: Innovating and improving the quality of activities of elected representatives and bodies.
The quality and effectiveness of elected representatives and bodies determine the representativeness and strength of the voters' voices. In Nghe An, many innovations have been implemented, such as diversifying channels for receiving feedback, applying digital technology, exchanging in-depth experiences between different levels of People's Councils, and improving the skills of representatives. These advancements not only elevate the role and responsibilities of representatives but also create strong momentum in addressing the root causes of petitions, meeting the expectations of voters and the people.
Current Affairs and Politics Reporting TeamNovember 19, 2024
The quality and effectiveness of elected representatives and bodies determine the representativeness and strength of the voters' voices. In Nghe An, many innovations have been implemented, such as diversifying channels for receiving feedback, applying digital technology, exchanging in-depth experiences between different levels of People's Councils, and improving the skills of representatives. These advancements not only elevate the role and responsibilities of representatives but also create strong momentum in addressing the root causes of petitions, meeting the expectations of voters and the people.
In Thanh Chuong district in particular and Nghe An province in general, Mr. Trinh Van Nha – Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, and also a representative of the 18th Provincial People's Council (2021-2026 term) – is considered a highly reputable leader on social media. Through his personal Facebook page named "Trinh Nha," Mr. Nha uses a friendly writing style and simple, local language, regularly sharing articles about the situation in the district, cautionary tales, and warnings for voters and the people. At the same time, his personal page has become an effective channel for connecting with people, receiving feedback and concerns from the public on issues such as land use right certificates, environmental sanitation, etc. "Necessary, important, effective, and practical," Representative Trinh Van Nha concluded when speaking about the role of social media in connecting with voters and the people.
.jpg)
Maintaining close contact with constituents is crucial for National Assembly and People's Council deputies to thoroughly listen to the thoughts and aspirations of voters and truthfully reflect the issues from their lives. This helps deputies deliver relevant and timely opinions in the parliamentary sessions, while also monitoring and promoting the resolution of issues of concern to constituents. Therefore, finding effective and high-quality ways to engage with and maintain regular connections with constituents has always been a top priority and concern for the Delegation of National Assembly and People's Council Deputies of Nghe An province throughout the performance of their duties.
With the motto that it's not enough to just meet and interact with voters as stipulated four times a year, but to find effective solutions to reach voters and for voters to reach them in the most convenient way, elected bodies in Nghe An have expanded and diversified the "channels" for receiving the thoughts, aspirations, and feedback of voters and the people, such as via email; letters and feedback sent to the Office or directly; and feedback through the website "People's Representatives of Nghe An Province"...
In Nghe An province, in particular, voters and citizens can participate in the regular twice-yearly sessions of the Provincial People's Council through a "hotline" mechanism publicly announced on the Nghe An Newspaper, the Provincial Radio and Television Station, and the "People's Representatives of Nghe An Province" Fanpage. Throughout the session, the Office of the Provincial People's Council and National Assembly Delegation assigns staff to receive calls and messages from voters reflecting concerns from the grassroots level or expressing their views and opinions on the issues being discussed in the assembly," said Mr. Phan Trung Tu, Head of the Citizen Petition and Information Department, Office of the Provincial People's Council and National Assembly Delegation.
In conjunction with expanding channels for receiving feedback, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council also stipulated that the resolution and response to voters' opinions and feedback received through these channels by relevant agencies must be regular and timely, similar to the feedback received at voter outreach meetings. The results of the resolution should be directly sent to the address of the person making the request, feedback, or proposal; overcoming the situation where responses are given through local authorities but do not reach the voters, leading to the same issue being raised by the same voter at various levels and with different responsible officials.
To achieve this progress, in the past, after receiving suggestions and recommendations, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council forwarded them to the relevant authorities for resolution, setting specific deadlines. For example, addressing and responding to suggestions from voters and the public via online telephone hotlines during sessions was done within one month. Based on this, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council assigned the Department of Citizen Petitions and Information, the Office of the National Assembly Delegation and the Provincial People's Council to directly monitor and urge the relevant agencies to resolve the issues, reporting on the progress at the monthly regular meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, and issuing written reminders if there were delays.
The spirit of enhancing the role, competence, and responsibility of elected representatives and bodies, and addressing the root causes of issues of concern to voters and their recommendations, has spread to the district-level People's Councils. Many localities such as Con Cuong, Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, etc., have been striving for innovation and have adopted many effective methods in receiving, compiling, and following up on the resolution of voter recommendations.
In Anh Son district, based on a comprehensive review of issues of widespread concern to voters across many localities and periods, such as addressing landslides and their impact on people's production and daily lives, and creating jobs, these issues were selected for inclusion in the questioning sessions and explanatory meetings of the People's Council to find solutions. Meanwhile, the People's Council of Thanh Chuong district established six supervisory teams, each led by a group of district People's Council representatives, to monitor all unresolved or resolved requests that voters have not yet fully agreed upon, from the beginning of the term to the present, in each electoral unit. Following the supervision, the Standing Committee of the People's Council held a meeting with the People's Committee and relevant district-level agencies and units to hear the results of the supervision; and to further clarify some issues to strengthen accountability in resolving them. Progress reports are held every three months.
.png)
Comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, said: Expanding and diversifying channels for receiving feedback from voters helps the Provincial People's Council receive more information, in a timely, complete, and multifaceted manner, from real life; instead of being limited and only waiting until voter consultation meetings. If feedback is only received through voter consultation meetings, in some places the majority of the participants are representative voters, so many of the people's thoughts and aspirations do not reach the relevant levels, and the feedback and suggestions at voter consultation forums do not fully reflect the people's thoughts and feelings.
Currently, under the direction of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, the Office of the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies - Provincial People's Council of Nghe An has implemented software to track the receipt and processing of voter petitions; ensuring that the "journey" from receiving, classifying, and forwarding to the Provincial People's Committee, departments, agencies, and localities for resolution and responding to the results of the resolution to voters is closely monitored, thereby enhancing accountability at each stage of the resolution process.
.png)
To improve the quality of work of elected representatives and bodies, Nghe An province has also initiated the exchange of experiences between the provincial and district-level People's Councils, and between the district and commune levels. From the beginning of the 2021-2026 term to the present, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council has organized 11 conferences to exchange experiences on operational activities between the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the Standing Committees of the district-level People's Councils on specific topics, including the topic of skills and solutions to improve the quality of interaction with and resolution of voters' requests.
Highly appreciating this initiative, Ms. Le Thi Hien, Vice Chairwoman of the Nghi Loc District People's Council, said: "We discuss innovative solutions for engaging with constituents. Before each constituent meeting, we arrange for delegates to conduct on-site surveys of areas where constituents have repeatedly raised concerns but have yet to resolve them. Based on what we see firsthand, combined with feedback from constituents, National Assembly delegates or provincial and district People's Councils have a stronger basis to further recommend that the People's Committees at all levels direct the resolution of pressing issues at the grassroots level."
Conversely, through experience-sharing conferences, the Standing Committee of the Nghi Loc District People's Council also learned many good practices from the Standing Committees and Committees of the Provincial People's Council and the Standing Committees of the People's Councils of other districts, cities, and towns to study and apply. "After listening to the discussion from the Thanh Chuong District People's Council on innovating voter outreach by requiring the provision of information and phone numbers of petitioners so that after the conference we can contact them to gather complete and accurate information, we have applied this approach. This method overcomes the problem of summarizing petitions and proposals in a general way, and the resolution by state management agencies will be more convenient and effective when the content and specific addresses are clear," shared Ms. Le Thi Hien.
Organizing conferences to exchange operational experiences between the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the Standing Committees of the District People's Councils is considered an activity with many positive two-way impacts, increasing professionalism and improving the quality and effectiveness of operations for both the Provincial and District People's Councils, thereby better fulfilling the roles of representatives, agencies, and elected officials, as well as the expectations of voters and the people. For example, drawing from the experience of organizing "paperless" sessions implemented by the Provincial People's Council at the beginning of the 2021-2026 term, the People's Councils of Thanh Chuong, Hoang Mai town, Quy Hop, Anh Son, Con Cuong districts, Vinh city, etc., have successfully learned from and applied this model.
According to Mr. Nguyen The Manh, Vice Chairman of the Con Cuong District People's Council: Based on the experience gained from experience-sharing conferences, the quality of activities of the District and Commune People's Councils in Con Cuong has seen many improvements since the beginning of the term; most notably, the promotion of information technology application through the organization of "paperless meetings" and "digital meeting rooms". The District People's Council has also organized several thematic meetings with voters on issues such as the handover of electricity grid infrastructure and electricity sales at home; environmental protection, forest management and protection; the Land Law, the Marriage and Family Law, etc.
On the part of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, through experience-sharing conferences, they have promptly grasped many practical difficulties from the grassroots level to incorporate into their work programs and plans, such as: the slow issuance of land use right certificates and house ownership certificates in apartment projects; state management of mineral exploitation activities; handling of stalled projects, projects with delayed progress, and projects using land for improper purposes; strengthening solutions to ensure traffic safety, etc.
In particular, through experience-sharing conferences, a space has been created to connect and share difficulties and obstacles in the organization and operation of People's Councils at the district and commune levels. The Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council directly discussed and guided the resolution of these issues; some were received and assigned to the Committees of the Provincial People's Council for advice on resolving difficulties at the grassroots level. For example, after a conference held in Dien Chau district, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council received recommendations from the Standing Committees of the district People's Councils to submit to the Provincial People's Council for the issuance of a Resolution amending and supplementing some articles of the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council regulating some expenditure regimes to ensure the operation of People's Councils at all levels in the province; This has created the necessary conditions for district-level People's Council representatives to meet the requirements of implementing digital transformation… Vice Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nhu Khoi said: The exchange of experiences between the Standing Committees of People's Councils at all levels in Nghe An province will continue to be organized in conjunction with innovation and improvement in the coming time, contributing to concretizing the Project to improve the quality and effectiveness of the activities of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council, 18th term, 2021-2026.
From the beginning of the 2021-2026 term to the present, in addition to organizing experience-sharing conferences, the Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council has also organized four training conferences to improve the operational skills of elected representatives at the district level. Based on this, the Standing Committees of the district-level People's Councils then retrain the commune-level People's Councils, creating innovation and improving the quality of operation of the three levels of elected bodies in the locality, contributing to promoting the overall development of the province.
During National Assembly sessions, the National Assembly Office and the Committee on Delegate Affairs regularly coordinate to invite representatives from the People's Councils and the Offices of the National Assembly Delegations and People's Councils of the provinces to attend as observers. After attending several sessions at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, Ms. Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Nghe An Provincial People's Council - expressed her high appreciation for this activity. She shared that attending these sessions not only helped her learn valuable experience in organization and administration but also provided many practical lessons that can be effectively applied to the work of delegates and the Provincial People's Council.
.jpg)
Significant innovations in how people interact with, listen to, and handle voter petitions in Nghe An have created a new wave, not only bringing elected representatives closer to the people but also improving the quality and effectiveness of the People's Councils at all levels. From applying digital technology and expanding channels for receiving feedback to conferences for exchanging practical experiences, Nghe An is building a modern and professional model for the operation of elected bodies.
These innovative approaches not only affirm the role and responsibilities of elected representatives but also meet the increasingly high expectations of voters – those who want their voices not only heard but also translated into practical action. This is the journey for each elected representative to truly become a strong bridge between the government and the people, contributing to the sustainable development of Nghe An province.
With the progress already made and a vision for continuous improvement, Nghe An is spreading a clear message: "When the people trust, everything can be accomplished." The professionalism, responsibility, and approachability of the delegates are the key to unlocking that trust, for a Nghe An that develops increasingly strongly, meeting the aspirations and hopes of the entire population.
