Mr. Vu Khoan discusses political innovation

Former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said he had four major impressions about Vietnam's political innovation process over the past 30 years.

The first impression is that Vietnam prioritizes economic innovation combined with gradual political innovation. Previously, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe focused on political innovation, but Vietnam did not do so.

Mr. Vu Khoan.

Vietnam has a saying "only with food can one practice religion", and in 1986 the Vietnamese economy had inflation reaching nearly 800%, the Vietnamese people were literally starving, so Vietnam had to prioritize economic reform to save the nation.

Moreover, it is impossible to innovate anything in a chaotic society. Vietnam also learned lessons from the experience of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe at that time.

Moreover, political reform is an extremely complicated process, involving many people, and without precedent or model. Therefore, Vietnam must reform step by step, while reforming, it must also determine the model.

The second impression is that political innovation in Vietnam is based on absorbing the quintessence of humanity, suitable to the specific conditions of Vietnam. Mr. Vu Khoan cited an example that he often quotes when answering about the specificity: Vietnamese people drink rice wine sealed with banana leaves, the British drink Whisky, the French drink wine, the Japanese drink Sake, and the Chinese drink Maotai...

Almost everyone in the world does not drink alcoholic beverages, but each nation has its own characteristics. Political reform is the same, Vietnam has an Eastern cultural tradition, the tradition of a country that has experienced war and a long period of centralized bureaucratic subsidy economic system," Mr. Vu Khoan explained.

“Therefore, political reform in Vietnam is carried out in a more emotional than rational way, and that is Vietnam's own path,” Mr. Vu Khoan temporarily concluded.

The third impression is related to the synchronous political innovation, Mr. Vu Khoan said.

The first innovation is that in the past, the Party intervened in all direct work of the government system, but now the Party has given great initiative to the legislative and executive agencies. As a former Party Central Committee Secretary, Deputy Prime Minister and National Assembly delegate, Mr. Vu Khoan feels this very clearly.

The second innovation in the Party is that democracy within the Party has also developed a lot. Mr. Vu Khoan did not have time to share with the conference, but he also felt it very clearly as a member of the Party Central Committee for 15 years.

The third innovation is a synchronous innovation, from Party innovation, State innovation, and social innovation. The Communist Party of Vietnam plays a leading role in this country because the Party's ideals are consistent with the people's aspirations and are recognized. The Party's sacrifices are highly appreciated by the people. The 2013 Constitution clearly states two things that were never mentioned before: One is that the Party is responsible for and subject to the supervision of the people, and two is that the Party operates within the framework of the law.

The fourth innovation is political innovation based on the people as the root. According to Mr. Vu Khoan, the ruling Party always faces the threat of becoming bureaucratized and degenerate. Therefore, for many years now, the Party has placed great importance on building and consolidating the Party, first of all the leadership team, to turn the Party into a true Party of the people, by the people and for the people.

The renovation in the Party is sometimes not well known to the people, but the activities of the National Assembly in its sessions are broadcast live nationwide, and there are innovations in the legislative system. The role of the legislature is more prominent than before the renovation, when the National Assembly sessions of Vietnam were just a formality. But since the renovation, the National Assembly meetings have been held regularly.

Firstly, in terms of legislation, the National Assembly has focused a lot on building a legal framework, which mainly absorbs the quintessence of humanity. According to the reality when he was Deputy Prime Minister directing the negotiations for Vietnam to join the WTO, Mr. Vu Khoan said that Vietnam must reform its legal system to be in line with international standards, and in 10 years of negotiations, Vietnam has reformed more than 100 legislative documents according to the common standards of humanity.

Second, the National Assembly's transparency has reached an unprecedented high. All question-and-answer sessions with ministers, both Deputy Prime Ministers and Prime Ministers, are broadcast live nationwide, and the people monitor how the Government leaders and ministries have addressed issues of concern to voters.

Third is the National Assembly's supreme supervisory power over the country's major affairs and major national projects. "When I was Deputy Prime Minister, we always said that in the past, the Government could decide everything on its own, but now everything must be submitted to the National Assembly, and every penny spent must be approved by the National Assembly. The Government is too hard-working, but for the country, it is too good," Mr. Vu Khoan shared.

Regarding the judiciary, Vietnam is currently having a judicial reform program headed by the President, to reform the Vietnamese judicial system according to the common values ​​of humanity, the common model of nations. There are many things that did not exist in Vietnam before, but now exist, such as litigation in court. Or before, during the war, Vietnam even dissolved the Ministry of Justice, and the legal university did not exist at all. Now, the role of the judiciary is equal to other systems and components of the system, has its own voice and only obeys the law.

How has the executive branch changed? The first change is the shift from a government that manages everything, like a board of directors of a corporation, to indirect economic management through law. Since then, the government has shrunk to just over 20 ministries managing multiple sectors and fields, from nearly 40 ministries before.

Second, in recent days, the Vietnamese Government has been emphasizing the message of "shifting from a management government to a creative government", which means creating a corridor environment for businesses to operate.

Third, in the Government, the decentralization process is very strong, and the power of local levels is very large.

Fourth, in this innovation process, everything depends on the people, starting from grassroots democracy.

What former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan expects

According to Mr. Vu Khoan, the first thing, also reflected in the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is to prioritize the way to innovate the Party. If the Party leads and does not innovate itself, it will be difficult to innovate in the whole society. In this innovation of the Party, the key issue is to build and rectify the Party, to gradually eliminate negative aspects, so that the Party is more worthy of the people's trust.

Mr. Vu Khoan's second wish is that the executive and legislative bodies make further strides in the law-making process, so that the laws passed are more comprehensive and comprehensive in covering social activities. Currently, the laws passed by the National Assembly are often institutionalized in a framework, not in detail. For the law to take effect, the Government needs to issue decrees to specify those laws, and many times those decrees do not match the law. Then after the decrees come circulars from ministries to implement them, and the circulars deviate even more from the law. Mr. Vu Khoan hopes that the law must be drafted in detail to be implemented immediately, and that must be done by the National Assembly.

Mr. Vu Khoan also wants that the National Assembly itself needs to be the one to initiate the enactment of laws, but up to now the Government has been the main party to initiate the enactment of laws.

The third thing that Mr. Vu Khoan hopes for is what the Prime Minister has emphasized a lot: shifting from a direct government to a creative government. Mr. Vu Khoan believes that the main task of the Government is to create and set up a clear and easy legal corridor for businesses to operate and people to live.

And fourth, Mr. Vu Khoan hopes to combine the expansion of democracy with the consolidation of discipline. No matter how much the law is improved, if people do not understand and comply, how can society develop, Mr. Vu Khoan said.

The final point is that Vietnam is now deeply integrating with the world economy, so political innovation in general, and legal innovation in particular, must go hand in hand with that integration process. “Currently, Vietnam participates in 16 free trade agreements with countries around the world, there are many different laws, domestic laws must meet those requirements,” said Mr. Vu Khoan.

According to Vietnamnet.vn