What did Quynh Luu district leaders say about naming communes after the merger?

Quynh Luu district has 17 administrative units with plans for arrangement.

Reporter:Dear Sir! Quynh Luu District is one of 13 localities in the province.implementing the arrangement of commune-level units in the period of 2023 - 2025 with a large number of administrative units to be arranged in the province. So, how has the district implemented this work in the past time?

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh:The entire Quynh Luu district has 14 commune-level administrative units that do not meet 70% of both standards on natural area and population size, or at the same time have standards on natural area below 20% and population size below 300% of the regulations, subject to arrangement in the period 2023 - 2025. Taking into account the factors of adjacent commune-level administrative units, the district has 3 more units (2 communes and a town) included in the arrangement plan with a total of 17 commune-level administrative units, merged into 8 communes, reducing 9 communes.

14 administrative units subject to arrangement in Quynh Luu: Quynh Hong, Quynh Doi, Quynh Hau, Quynh My, Quynh Hoa, Quynh Luong, Quynh Tho, Quynh Long, Quynh Ngoc, Quynh Hung, Quynh Minh, Quynh Ba, Son Hai and Tien Thuy.

3 adjacent units have been built with arrangement plans: Quynh Nghia, Quynh Thuan and Cau Giat town.

The arrangement of administrative units is a major policy of the Party and the State, so this work is focused on by the Party Committees and authorities of Quynh Luu district in accordance with the direction and roadmap of the Central and the province. The district and the implementing agencies have established Steering Committees and working groups.

The district issues a plan for arrangement, providing a roadmap and timeline, along with clearly defining the tasks of each level, each sector, agency and unit; at the same time, issues a plan to propagate the implementation of the arrangement.

The development of the plan for administrative unit arrangement was carried out according to a methodical and strict process; opinions were collected through many rounds in the Steering Committee, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and the Department of Home Affairs - the standing agency of the provincial steering committee; opinions were collected from the Party Committees of the localities implementing the merger. The process of collecting opinions from the Party Executive Committees of the localities implementing the merger on the draft plan for basic arrangement created high consensus and agreement among cadres, Party members and the People.

Listen, accept comments and feedback

Reporter:However, sir, the proposed naming of some communes in Quynh Luu district has caused mixed reactions in public opinion over the past few days. What is your opinion on this issue?

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh:The proposal to adjust the name of the new commune after the merger based on the suggestions of the communes and districts has received many direct and indirect comments and criticisms, especially on cyberspace.

The viewpoint of the District Steering Committee is to always respectfully listen to and accept comments and feedback from cadres, party members and people of all walks of life. This is an important "channel", serving as a basis for the district to continue to consider, weigh and choose names for the communes after the merger. Because currently, the naming plan for the communes after the merger is not the final plan, but this is only a plan to collect voters' opinions on the plan to arrange administrative units, including naming the communes, scheduled to be held on May 15, 2024.

According to regulations, the collection of voters' opinions in the form of ballots must ensure that over 50% of the total number of voters in the area agree before implementing the next steps, which is submitting to People's Councils at all levels for approval, before submitting to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Assembly Standing Committee for approval of the project for implementation.

Mobilizing the political system to engage in propaganda and create public consensus

Reporter:Could you share more specifically the district's direction and next plan regarding naming communes after the merger?

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh:It is necessary to affirm that the naming of the new commune after the merger, the initial choice of the district is in accordance with the direction in Resolution No. 35, dated July 12, 2023 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the arrangement of administrative units at district and commune levels in the period 2023 - 2030, which is consistent with the historical, traditional and cultural factors of the locality; encouraging the use of one of the existing names of the administrative units before the merger to name the administrative unit after the merger to create the most convenience after the merger, especially reducing pressure on people in editing documents.

Specifically, the initial plan was that Quynh Hong commune would merge into the town, taking the name Cau Giat town; Quynh Long would merge into Quynh Thuan, taking the name Quynh Thuan; Son Hai would merge into Quynh Tho, taking the name Son Hai; Tien Thuy would merge into Quynh Nghia, taking the name Quynh Nghia; Quynh Minh would merge into Quynh Luong, taking the name Quynh Phu (the previous historical name); Quynh My would merge into Quynh Hoa, taking the name Quynh Hoa; Quynh Ba, Quynh Hung, Quynh Ngoc would merge into Quynh Doi, taking the name Quynh Doi.

However, during the process of collecting opinions from cadres and party members in the communes implementing the merger, there were some disagreements in some merged communes that were not allowed to retain their current names after the merger.

With the goal of naming a new commune, it must achieve the consensus, solidarity, and high agreement of the majority of voters in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 35 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, which is to "respect the opinions of the majority of voters"; therefore, the district continues to allow localities to consider and propose options to adjust and replace the commune name after the merger when they do not agree with the original option.

Accordingly, the new names after the merger in some communes are proposed based on combining the names of 2 current communes together. Specifically: Quynh Doi - Quynh Hau, named Doi Hau; Quynh My - Quynh Hoa, named Hoa My; Quynh Luong - Quynh Minh, named Minh Luong; Son Hai - Quynh Tho, named Hai Tho; Quynh Long - Quynh Thuan, named Thuan Long... In the "5 pairs" expected to combine the names of 2 current communes, there are currently 3 names of "3 pairs": Doi Hau, Hoa My, Hai Tho, which are receiving many conflicting opinions and have not yet created a high consensus among the people.

The district's direction, for commune names that are agreed by the majority of voters and people, is to keep them unchanged to organize propaganda, collect voters' opinions by ballot according to regulations to submit to People's Councils at all levels for approval, before submitting to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Assembly Standing Committee for approval of the project for implementation.

For units whose names are not yet highly unified and there are still many conflicting opinions, the District Steering Committee continues to research to direct the communes implementing the merger to consider and choose the best and most suitable option; at the same time, strengthen propaganda, advocacy, and mobilize the entire political system to participate, with the hope that voters and people in the communes implementing the merger will understand, unite, and highly agree on the merger option, including naming the commune after the merger before organizing to collect voters' opinions.

Reporter:Thank you for this conversation.