Improve the quality of social supervision and criticism

(Baonghean) - On December 12, 2013, the Politburo and the Central Executive Committee of the Party (11th tenure) issued Decision No. 217-QD/T.U on "Regulations on supervision and social criticism of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations". This is the first time the supervision and criticism function of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations has been concretized into the Party's policy.

PThe importance of promoting people's mastery through the role of supervision and social criticism of the Front and organizations is clearly demonstrated in the thoughts of President Ho Chi Minh and in the documents of the Party Congress. President Ho Chi Minh always valued people's intelligence and placed above all the consciousness of serving the people. He taught: "In all work, right from the planning stage and throughout the implementation period, we must boldly mobilize the masses, making everyone imbued with the spirit of collective mastery." "We must learn from the people, ask the people, and understand the people. Every slogan and every policy of ours must be based on the people's experience and must listen to the people's wishes."

During the process of leading the Vietnamese revolution, our Party has established and gradually perfected the functions of social supervision and criticism of the Front and socio-political organizations. Party Congress documents clearly state the requirement to develop regulations on these functions. The documents of the 6th Party Congress stated: "The inspection and supervision of the people over State agencies, to achieve good results, must be organized and directed by mass organizations." The documents of the 11th Party Congress clearly stated: "The Party respects autonomy, supports voluntary activities, actively and creatively listens to the opinions of the Front and organizations. The Party and the State have mechanisms and policies to create conditions for the Front and people's organizations to operate effectively, performing the role of social supervision and criticism."

Voters of Khe Quynh village (Xieng My - Tuong Duong) expressed their wishes to National Assembly delegates. Photo: Nguyen Non

Our Party and State always respect and appreciate the role of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations. The regulations on social supervision and criticism have concretized that spirit in the Resolutions of the Party Congresses and in the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This is a new step forward in the Party's leadership method, towards expanding democracy, creating conditions for people to express their opinions and aspirations and exercise their mastery, contributing to building a clean and strong Party and government. This is also a condition and tool for the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations to better perform their role of representing and protecting the legitimate and legal rights and interests of the people; raising awareness and responsibility of Party committees, authorities, cadres and civil servants towards the people.

In recent years, the activities of social supervision and criticism in our province have been proactively carried out by the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, contributing positively to the implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, and the province's policies. However, the work of social supervision and criticism by the Front and organizations is still formal and has not been carried out regularly; the determination of the content and form of supervision and criticism is still confusing; the quality has not met the requirements and expectations of the people... There are many reasons leading to these limitations such as: there are no specific mechanisms and sanctions to ensure effective social supervision and criticism; the awareness of Party committees and authorities at all levels about the functions of social supervision and criticism of the Front and organizations is not adequate; the staff of the Front and organizations is still lacking and not up to the task, especially at the district and grassroots levels; Policies and working conditions have not received due attention; coordination between party and government organizations with the Front and mass organizations is not close.

To effectively perform the function of social supervision and criticism, the entire political system needs to participate. In particular, focusing on directing the following specific contents:

The system of organizations of the Fatherland Front and mass organizations must propagate and mobilize people to exercise the basic rights of citizens as stipulated in the Constitution, especially the right to supervise and criticize. The staff of the Fatherland Front and mass organizations is limited. If we only rely on this force to carry out social supervision and criticism activities, we cannot do all the work, let alone do it effectively. In terms of nature, the social supervision and criticism activities of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations are of a popular nature, because these activities are of organizations representing the people to give opinions to the Party and the State on the basis of gathering opinions and recommendations from a large number of people, truly relying on the people, protecting the legitimate rights of the people. We must synthesize the opinions and recommendations of the people, propose them to relevant agencies; commend and encourage those who do well, and protect those who are honest and straightforward in supervision and criticism.

The Front and organizations at all levels must select content, synthesize information, and use forces to effectively carry out social supervision and criticism activities. The content and scope of social supervision and criticism are broad, except for issues related to state secrets, so it is necessary to select key and essential contents for the majority of people, in accordance with the specific situation of each locality. The work of synthesizing information needs to focus on grasping the thoughts and aspirations of the people, of members and union members in each organization. It is necessary to analyze information on a scientific basis, select real information from the majority of people, not accept one-way information but must respond to unconstructive opinions, and take advantage of democratic rights to cause trouble. The force of social supervision and criticism is the entire people, but it is necessary to build a core force of people with in-depth knowledge of the fields; mobilize the participation of member organizations, especially professional associations; At the grassroots level, they are prestigious people in the community. Social criticism requires in-depth research in each field, arguments presented for criticism are tight, accurate and express opinions, in order to find consensus in a scientific way.

It is necessary to build a team of cadres of the Fatherland Front and mass organizations at all levels who are truly knowledgeable and dedicated, have professional qualifications, have the ability to synthesize, analyze, and evaluate issues, have a firm opinion and fortitude, and are not afraid of conflicts. This is a very important issue because if cadres do not have the capacity to inspect and evaluate, the content of social supervision and criticism will be inaccurate, affecting the interests of the majority of people. The work of selecting and training cadres needs to be done well, with a regime of preferential treatment for cadres with capacity and dedication; especially avoiding the phenomenon of weak cadres who cannot be arranged in agencies but are pushed to the Fatherland Front and mass organizations. To overcome the above problem, Party committees at all levels need to pay attention to the cadre work of the Fatherland Front and mass organizations, and increase the rotation of cadres in the political system to have a team of cadres of the Fatherland Front and mass organizations who have been knowledgeable in other fields.

Social supervision and criticism is the responsibility of the Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations towards the people, the Party and the State; it is necessary to bring social supervision and criticism into life, making it a regular routine, contributing to building a democratic, fair, civilized and increasingly developed society.

Phuc Hop Lake

(Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Commission)