Improve the quality and effectiveness of the work of grasping the people's situation in the spirit of Resolution XIII of the National Congress

The strength of the Party lies in its close connection with the people.

Marxism-Leninism always emphasizes the role of the masses, considering the strength of the masses to be invincible, and to lead the revolution, one must have close ties with the people. Lenin affirmed that the main source of the Party's strength lies in its close ties with the people. He also pointed out: "One of the greatest and most frightening dangers of a ruling Party is to cut off its ties with the masses."⁽¹⁾. During the process of leading the revolution, President Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to cultivating the relationship between the Party and the people. In the work "Common Political Knowledge" written in 1953, Uncle Ho clearly analyzed the relationship between the Party and the people: "Party members must rely on the people to build the Party. That is: wholeheartedly serve the people, believe in the people's strength, learn from the people, closely connect with the people and never be away from the people for a minute, and unite with the people to form a bloc."⁽²⁾. He said: "The country takes the people as its root", "Our country is a democratic country, the highest position belongs to the people, because the people are the masters"⁽³⁾.

Uncle Ho visited the people of Tan Phong commune, Binh Xuyen district, Vinh Phuc province (February 12, 1956). Photo archive

Promoting the tradition of our ancestors through thousands of years of building and defending the country, absorbing theoriesMarxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thoughtOur Party puts forward a very correct viewpoint: Revolution is the cause of the people, by the people, for the people; the people are the masters, the people are the masters. That viewpoint affirms the special position and importance of the flesh-and-blood relationship between the Party and the people. The 13th National Congress of Delegates, from the practice of the renovation process, especially the 5 years of implementing the Resolution of the 12th National Congress of the Party, drew 5 valuable lessons, including the lesson: "In all work of the Party and State, it is necessary to always thoroughly grasp and seriously implement the viewpoint that "people are the root"; truly trust, respect and promote the people's right to mastery, persistently implement the motto "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit". The people are the center, the subject of the renovation process, building and defending the Fatherland"... Thanks to thoroughly grasping the viewpoints and lessons mentioned above, the Party has led our people to defeat the invaders and achieved many great achievements of historical significance in building and developing the country.

To achieve such great achievements, one of the important reasons is that the Party has led the entire political system to grasp the people's situation, mobilize and gather the people through the revolutionary periods with good results. However, in some sectors and localities, the work of forecasting and grasping the people's situation is not tight, especially the people's thoughts, feelings, interests, concerns and legitimate recommendations. The work of receiving people and having dialogue with citizens is not carried out in a disciplined manner according to the regulations of the Central and the Government; slow leadership and direction to promptly resolve conflicts and concerns at the grassroots level; methods and forms of handling "hot spots" in some places lack flexibility, creativity and low efficiency. The Party and the State have issued a number of documents such as Decision No. 290-QD/TW dated February 25, 2010 of the Politburo on promulgating the "Regulations on mass mobilization work of the political system"; Law on Referendum and Civil Code (2015) of the National Assembly, Decree No. 04/2015/ND-CP of the Government on implementing democracy at the grassroots level... but the grasp and resolution of issues related to the people are not very effective, the coordination between agencies and units in the political system is not tight. In practice, after 35 years of implementing the renovation process, there are some "hot spots" and complicated complaints that are worth our study, drawing lessons from experience in proactively grasping the people's situation and methods of resolution when complaints occur.

Panorama of the 13th National Party Congress. Photo: Thanh Duy

Some solutions to improve the quality and effectiveness of the work of grasping the people's situation in the spirit of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress

Firstly, continue to change the awareness of the entire political system, each cadre, party member, civil servant, and public employee about promoting the people's mastery, about the meaning and importance of the work of grasping the people's situation in the new period.

13th National Party Congresshas added the motto "People know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit". More clearly defining the role of "the Party leading, the State managing, the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations as the core for people to be masters". Affirming "the role of the subject, the central position of the people in the country's development strategy, in the entire process of building and defending the Fatherland"⁽⁴⁾and clearly stated the requirements: "Party committees, party organizations, organizations in the political system, party members, cadres, civil servants, and public employees set an example in practicing democracy, complying with the law, and upholding social ethics", "taking the legitimate and legal rights and interests of people and businesses as the focus to promote innovation, ensuring the requirements of rapid and sustainable development"⁽⁵⁾. In particular, the 13th National Party Congress emphasized: "creating a strong change in the awareness and actions of Party committees at all levels and the political system on mass mobilization work, having a mechanism to promote the role of the people in participating in building a clean and strong Party and political system in the new situation" (6). Forecasting, grasping the thoughts and aspirations of the people and orienting public opinion is a very important task of ideological work. On the basis of the new points and key contents mentioned above, Party committees at all levels must lead, organize learning, and disseminate to organizations in the political system, to each cadre, Party member, civil servant, and public employee.

Grasping and correctly forecasting the people's situation will help to accurately orient and promptly handle ideological issues, create consensus in society, and contribute to stabilizing the socio-political situation. The economy and society can only develop when there is consensus among the people and when the socio-political situation is stable. In the conditions of developing a market economy and international integration in the direction of socialism, the work of grasping the people's situation is increasingly meaningful and important.

Second, improve the quality of voter contact activities and the quality of specialized staff receiving citizens at all levels.

According to the law, National Assembly and People's Council deputies must carry out activitiesvoter contactbefore and after the meetings in the locality where the delegates are running for election. Voter contact activities in recent years have seen many innovations, and have been recognized by voters as having better results than in previous terms. However, in some places, there are still formalities. Some localities, due to the disease of achievements, choose residential areas or communes, wards, and towns that have no or very few complaints and denunciations from citizens for the National Assembly delegation or People's Council to meet with voters. In some places, local leaders only invite voter representatives to attend, so they do not honestly reflect the legitimate thoughts and aspirations of the majority of voters.

Through voter contact activities, the collection of opinions and recommendations is not complete in some places and the monitoring and supervision of the State's responsible agencies for handling and resolving them is not strict and timely. In order for voter contact activities to be of higher quality and efficiency, it is recommended that delegations of National Assembly and People's Councils should announce in advance the time and place of contact and only invite voters who need to come to present their thoughts, aspirations or recommendations and proposals. If well organized, it is possible to contact each voter in turn, the efficiency will be even higher (like the experience in Singapore). Innovation in that direction not only saves time for voters, but also helps voters improve their rights and responsibilities in participating in building a clean and strong political system.

National Assembly deputies meet voters after the 8th session of the 14th National Assembly in Trung Son commune, Do Luong district. Photo: My Nga

Workpublic receptionThe Party and State have paid great attention to the leadership and direction of the policy, so all levels and sectors have implemented it quite seriously, and the number of complaints and denunciations from citizens in many places has decreased significantly. Many secretaries and chairmen at the provincial and district levels have directly received citizens periodically according to regulations. However, due to budget difficulties, some districts have not invested in timely facilities for citizen reception. A number of specialized cadres who help Party committees and authorities advise on citizen reception have not been fully equipped with legal knowledge and citizen reception skills, so the effectiveness of citizen reception is limited.

In particular, the monitoring and updating of the results of handling and resolving citizens' legitimate recommendations and proposals after being concluded by the chairperson is not strict and timely, so there are still cases of petitions going beyond the level... Training and coaching to improve the knowledge and qualifications of specialized staff to assist leaders of communes, districts, provinces and the Central Government, the Government is very important. If the specialized staff assisting the Central Citizen Reception Committee, to provinces, cities, districts, and counties... have legal knowledge, understanding of socio-economics and citizen reception skills, and have viewpoints and responsibilities towards the people, it will help Party committees and authorities at all levels improve the effectiveness of citizen reception work.

Third, continue to innovate the Party's leadership method towards the State in directing and operating to grasp the people's situation more practically and effectively.

The document of the 13th National Party Congress continues to affirm: “The Party leads the State through platforms, strategies, major policies and guidelines, through organizational and personnel work, through inspection and supervision; leads the institutionalization of the Party's viewpoints, guidelines and guidelines into policies and laws; leads the building of an organizational apparatus, a contingent of cadres and civil servants with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige, equal to the tasks; leads the organization to effectively implement policies, guidelines, the Constitution and laws…”⁽⁷⁾. Grasping the situation of the people in each locality, each unit... in each period is very important to help the Party Committee and the government strengthen or adjust policies and guidelines to be accurate and constantly improve the material and spiritual life of the people. The content of grasping the situation of the people is very rich and increasingly requires an objective, accurate and timely grasp for each social class in different regions such as: grasping and forecasting the ideological situation, living situation, employment, health, education, technical level, religious situation, ethnicity, environment, security, order, the situation of the working class, farmers, intellectuals, businessmen, compatriots abroad...

The 13th Party Congress emphasized: "Taking work results, satisfaction and people's trust as important criteria to evaluate the quality of the organizational apparatus and the quality of cadres and party members"⁽⁸⁾In reality, in our country, the above indicators are held by many sectors, many units, many levels, so they are scattered, overlapping, slow to innovate in approach, investigation, and forecasting, so they lack accuracy and timeliness.

Grasping the people's situation is a big, complicated, and important issue that many countries are very concerned about, especially in the period when science, technology, and digital technology are strongly developing to plan policies and strategies... It is recommended that the Central Government lead the State to soon embody the work of grasping the people's situation into legal documents for unified and effective implementation. The motto "People know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit" must also have mechanisms and legal documents to be effectively implemented in practice.

Nghia Dung Commune Police (Tan Ky) carry out mass mobilization work. Photo: Tien Hung

Fourth, strengthen coordination between functional agencies in the political system to synthesize and analyze the people's situation accurately and promptly.

The 13th Party Congress documents stated: "continue to innovate leadership methods, ensure consistent, timely, and correct leadership and direction of Party committees and organizations at all levels..."⁽⁹⁾.

In fact, in our country today, there are many agencies with functions and tasks of grasping the people's situation such as: inspection and examination agencies, Citizen Reception Committees, National Assembly Petition Committees, Propaganda Committees, Mass Mobilization Committees at all levels, specialized agencies such as the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Planning and Investment), Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Ethnic Committee, State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations... According to functions, tasks and according to assignment and decentralization, each agency and unit grasps data and documents related to the people's situation differently. Synthesizing and analyzing information channels of the entire political system, including from media agencies, especially electronic newspapers... is the basis for advising Party committees and authorities at all levels to lead and direct more effectively.

In recent years, the work of grasping the people's situation has improved, especially grasping the situation of petitions and complaints, so the number of "hot spots", points with complicated cases, the number of petitions and complaints has decreased significantly. However, the situation of grasping the people's situation is still scattered, the coordination between functional agencies is not tight, the synthesis is not good, so the quality of analysis, forecasting, and consulting for Party committees and authorities to lead and direct is still limited.

In particular, the work of grasping the ideological situation among workers and laborers in non-state enterprises, among intellectuals, among religions, the situation of petitions and complaints in the field of land... in some localities and regions is not good. Some previous "hot spots" such as the disturbances in Binh Duong, Dong Nai during the event of China illegally placing the HD-981 drilling rig; the forced land recovery in Van Giang (Hung Yen), in Tien Lang (Hai Phong); the Muong Nhe case (Dien Bien); the Dong Tam case (Hanoi)... the work of forecasting, grasping the situation, the coordination of advice, the coordination of direction lacked unity and timeliness, so the time to resolve and handle was prolonged, and some cases were not very effective...

To create close coordination between departments, ministries, branches and localities in the work of grasping the people's situation, it is recommended that the Politburo soon consider issuing a new regulation or adding more specific provisions when summarizing 10 years of implementing Decision No. 290-QD/TW dated February 25, 2010 of the Politburo (10th tenure).

Grasping firmly, correctly, and objectively the people's situation to promptly reflect and advise the Party Committee to lead mass mobilization work is an important contribution to organizing the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress into life./.

---------------------------

1. VILenin: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2006, vol.44, p.426.

2, 3. Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2011, vol.8, p.281; vol.7, p.434.

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Documents of the 13th National Party Congress, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2021, vol. 1, pp. 173, 175, 191, 196 - 197, 192, 198.