Nghe An: Still confusing dialogue with voter contact

(Baonghean) - In order to promptly resolve the problems arising at the grassroots level and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the government apparatus at all levels, in the first 6 months of 2017, the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee coordinated to pilot the organization of dialogue conferences between the Chairman of the People's Council and the People's Committee of the commune with the people. The meetings and dialogues have initially brought about positive changes at the grassroots level.

Initial recording

From May 20 to June 21, each district, city and town selected 3 communes to pilot dialogue activities between commune-level authorities and people.

The dialogue focused on the shortcomings and limitations in the leadership and implementation of local political tasks, the management and operation of the Commune People's Committee, administrative reform, public reception and handling of complaints and denunciations, handling of administrative procedures by the government with the people, implementation of grassroots democracy, public ethics of the commune's cadres and civil servants, and outstanding and pressing issues in the area.

Dialogue conference between the government and people in Thanh Long commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Gia Huy

Thanh Long commune is one of three localities chosen by Thanh Chuong district to pilot the government's dialogue with the people, attracting more than 20 people's opinions to participate in questioning and dialogue. Among them, many questions focused on the leadership and direction of the government, such as the issuance of red books to people, which has been requested many times but the number of solutions is still very small. It is requested that the commune leaders answer when it will be resolved to ensure the rights of the people?

Or the problem of cemetery management still has many shortcomings, the situation of land encroachment among people is still common, the work of preparing documents to grant land use right certificates for households granted land without authority is slow; the situation of land disputes, encroachment, and fences in some places has not been completely resolved... causing frustration among the people.

Attending the conference, Mr. Tran Thanh Nien, a resident of Hamlet 4, Thanh Long Commune, expressed his excitement and said that this is an opportunity for people to directly participate in contributing ideas, working with authorities at all levels to remove difficulties and obstacles, thereby creating consensus among the people to successfully carry out the task of building a clean and strong Party and government and the goal of socio-economic development in the area.

As for Mr. Tran Tri Tue - Chairman of Thanh Long Commune People's Committee: "The dialogue is an opportunity to enhance the responsibility of the Chairman of the People's Committee and Chairman of the People's Council at the commune level in grasping the thoughts and aspirations of the people and promptly resolving problems in the implementation of policies, mechanisms and laws in the area, improving the quality of operations of the local government system at the grassroots level.

Many localities have realized that dialogue is the responsibility of local leaders with the people; dialogue activities are an important and direct "channel" to help leaders of Party committees and authorities grasp aspirations, listen to people's "advice" on socio-economic development; together find ways to remove difficulties, obstacles, and pressing issues that remain. Therefore, at many dialogues, local government leaders have taken responsibility for the issues raised by the people, explained them, and promised to find solutions.

For example, regarding the shortcomings in the campaign to clear sidewalk corridors, Chairman of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee (Vinh City) Nguyen Hoang Manh admitted that there was still a situation of "throwing stones at a duckweed pond" and suggested that in addition to the involvement of the ward's functional forces, people also need to raise awareness of strict compliance and not re-encroach.

Or in Nghi Xuan commune (Nghi Loc), answering people's questions about the inadequacy of the irrigation canal system not solving the problem of drainage for the crop area, but on the contrary causing congestion, flooding, affecting people's production, Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune Pham Ngoc Duyen did not avoid but admitted that the problem people reported was correct, the cause was due to inadequacies in the design and construction of the culvert and drainage system and said that the commune will soon have a solution to overcome...

Many commune leaders expressed: Organizing dialogue between commune-level authorities and people is necessary. Two-way information exchange helps the relationship between officials and people become closer and more open, thereby creating consensus to solve problems arising in social life.

At the same time, this is also an opportunity for government leaders to hone their skills, promote the role and responsibility of leaders in managing and leading the resolution of problems arising at the grassroots level, and overcome bureaucracy and distance from the people. In some localities such as Tuong Duong, Thanh Chuong, Hung Nguyen, etc., the Secretary, Deputy Secretary or Chairman of the District People's Committee personally attends dialogue conferences at the grassroots level.

Mr. Le Ngoc Nguyen - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front said: Although it has just been implemented, and we are learning from experience while doing it, in general, the pilot dialogue conference between the head of the commune-level government and the people has created a new breeze at the grassroots level, the dialogue atmosphere is highly constructive, linked to local realities and the authority of the head of the commune-level government. Through dialogue, the role of the Fatherland Front as a "bridge" between the government and the people is also enhanced, the implementation of grassroots democracy and the people's right to participate in Party building and government building are promoted...

As of June 21, 60 communes in 20 districts, cities and towns in the province (except Nam Dan district) have organized dialogue conferences between the Chairman of the People's Council and People's Committee with the people in 2017, with each district selecting an average of 3 communes for pilot implementation.

Issues raised

Assessing the lessons learned from the dialogues, in addition to acknowledging the efforts and attempts of the grassroots in organizing and running the conference in accordance with the spirit of dialogue, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee also requested that the authorities of some localities in their responses should be concise, specific, and focus on each issue raised by the people; what is under the authority and responsibility of the grassroots, what can be done, what cannot be done, and require clearly defining the time for resolution, not avoiding the issue or giving general answers.

People of Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city dialogue with the government. Photo: Gia Huy

In addition, according to our observations, in some places people still confuse dialogue with voter contact, questioning even matters that are not under the authority of the Chairman of the People's Council, Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, and dialogue opinions are still too focused on issues related to resolving people's rights (electricity, roads, schools, stations, policies), not raising issues related to the general management and operation of local authorities, as well as the sense of responsibility and public ethics of cadres and civil servants.

While the purpose of the dialogue, in addition to resolving pressing issues, is also to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of local government management and administration.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Tran Duc Thanh - Head of the Legal Democracy Committee (Provincial Fatherland Front) said: In some places, the Party Committee has not really given strong direction, the coordination between the Fatherland Front and the government is still limited, leading to slow implementation, cadres are still afraid of dialogue, so the planning is not guaranteed, the participants in the dialogue are mainly cadres of hamlets, heads of mass organizations, civil servants, there are not many delegates who are people participating, the dialogue between commune leaders and people in some places is still heavy on reflection, contact is not clear on dialogue.

The methods and ways of conducting dialogue in many places are still rigid and inflexible, and have not yet inspired people to participate in questioning issues related to the basis and responsibilities of the government.

According to the plan, by the end of 2017, dialogue conferences between government leaders, People's Councils at the commune level and people will be deployed in all communes across the province, and each year the grassroots will organize dialogue once.

However, for the dialogue to be truly effective, the Fatherland Front at all levels and local Party committees and authorities need to closely coordinate in preparation, widely and publicly announce to every block and neighborhood, and expand the composition of dialogue participants so that people in need can attend.

The dialogue content needs to be open-ended so that the interlocutor can go straight to the core issues under the authority of local authorities, clarify responsibilities and find timely and effective solutions...

According to Mr. Le Ngoc Nguyen - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front, the important issue is that after the dialogue, the Fatherland Front at all levels must do a good job of supervising the implementation of promises made to the people by local authorities, aiming at the common goal of promptly resolving urgent issues arising at the grassroots level, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the government apparatus at all levels.

Gia Huy