Get practical to "hit the right spot" and address the problem!

(Baonghean) - The quality of the People's Council sessions is of paramount importance, as it comprehensively demonstrates the role, capacity, and effectiveness of the elected body. In 2014, voters in the province continued to acknowledge the innovations and improvements in the quality of the sessions, reflecting the concern and close attention to reality in order to correctly identify pressing issues arising from practical situations by the Provincial People's Council.

Comrade Tran Hong Chau, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, converses with the people during the Great Unity Day celebration in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu district).

Emphasis on preparation

In the face of the constant movement and progress of life, if the People's Council does not innovate and improve the quality of its activities in general, and the quality of its sessions in particular, it will inevitably regress and naturally lose its "mission" - the highest power body at the local level. In response to these challenges, in 2014, the Provincial People's Council continued to make improvements and innovations to enhance the quality of its sessions, increasingly fulfilling its role as a representative body of the people.

The first innovation is the way provincial People's Council representatives interact with constituents. Previously, according to the program and plan, the provincial People's Council usually assigned 2-3 representatives to meet with constituents at one location. Now, this has been reformed by having each representative meet at a different location; increasing direct contact with constituents at the block, hamlet, and village levels, targeting ordinary citizens. Next, there is an increase in the number of thematic and sectoral meetings with constituents. These innovations in the way representatives interact with constituents have enabled them to conduct more meetings, listen to more opinions, and better understand the nature of practical problems, so that they can reflect information to the council sessions in the most truthful way, avoiding vague or unrealistic statements.

The effectiveness of the Provincial People's Council's operational reforms was demonstrated at the two sessions held in 2014. At these sessions, the issues discussed, debated, and decided upon were all related to "provincial development and people's livelihoods," such as the quality of medical examination and treatment, the qualifications and service attitude of doctors and medical staff at healthcare facilities; the quality of food hygiene and safety; the unsustainable nature of poverty reduction; the limitations in managing labor export; the shortcomings in vocational training; the failure to implement many investment projects; targets for building new rural areas and national standard schools; the handover of rural electricity grid infrastructure; difficulties in agricultural production; the shortage of arable land for people in mountainous areas; the slow progress in administrative reform and the ethical conduct of officials and civil servants; and the inadequate quality of drinking water for the people...

Thanks to closely adhering to reality and accurately addressing the people's concerns, the issues raised, whether in discussions or questioning sessions, always remain "heated" in the assembly hall. Monitoring and statistics show that at each session of the Provincial People's Council, 90-98% of delegates participate in discussions, raising 260-300 issues in group meetings; 16-25 delegates participate in plenary sessions; 27-50 opinions are expressed in the resolution-making sessions; and 6-12 delegates question issues, raising 12-23 questions. These figures speak volumes about the "heat" and the concern and responsibility of the Provincial People's Council delegates. As a result, the sessions of the Provincial People's Council in recent times have attracted widespread attention from the province's voters. Each session receives 40-60 voter submissions through the hotline and citizen reception department.

Emphasize the role of the chairperson.

Along with thorough and meticulous preparation and the selection of content closely related to social life, the Provincial People's Council has also focused on enhancing the role of the chairperson in presiding over the sessions. In each session, the chairperson is assigned a specific role, with each person "responsible" for presiding over a session to focus deeply and firmly on each topic. During the session, they raise issues that provide guidance and insights for the delegates; they also conclude by summarizing what has been accomplished and what has not, clarifying objective and subjective causes, as well as the responsibilities of each agency and department, in order to propose feasible corrective measures and solutions.

The Provincial People's Council also took the initiative to assign the Committees and Delegation Groups of the Provincial People's Council (one group at each district level) to thoroughly research the issues, prepare sets of questions, and assign delegates to ask in-depth, clear, and focused questions on each issue during the discussion and questioning sessions. Thanks to this, the situation where delegates, lacking a firm grasp of the issue, asked explanatory questions, questions merely to gather information, or even questions for the sake of asking, which were outside the scope of the respondent's authority, as in previous sessions, has been overcome. The presiding officer clearly demonstrates a positive attitude towards the respondent, especially regarding the need to incorporate the opinions of the delegates who asked the questions and provide written responses, while also learning from experience and implementing specific and timely measures to address the issues raised by the delegates. During the questioning sessions, while waiting for delegates to take the podium, the presiding officer incorporates the opinions of voters sent to the session via the hotline, requesting leaders of relevant sectors to answer and clarify the issues raised by the voters. According to delegate Nguyen Thi Quynh Nga (Thanh Chuong), the questioning sessions in recent provincial People's Council meetings have demonstrated the "heated" nature of the issues, reflecting the responsibility and concern of provincial People's Council delegates regarding matters of voter interest.

Besides the innovation in the role of the presiding officer and the clear assignment of responsibilities to delegates and delegate groups during the questioning sessions, the success of the provincial People's Council sessions last year also demonstrated that the issues decided at the sessions were implemented and resolved. At the closing sessions, the presiding officer, Comrade Tran Hong Chau - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, assigned specific tasks to relevant levels and sectors to actively implement. The Provincial People's Committee had to urgently develop specific plans and solutions, mobilizing all resources to effectively implement the resolutions passed by the Provincial People's Council. The Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations within the political system had to coordinate closely with the People's Council and People's Committee at all levels in all areas of activity. The Standing Committee, the Committees of the Provincial People's Council, the delegate groups, and the delegates of the Provincial People's Council promptly met with voters after the sessions to report on the results of the sessions and respond to the opinions and recommendations of voters before the sessions; Actively fulfilling the duties of an elected representative, proposing and suggesting issues of concern to voters, and contributing to the excellent completion of the province's political tasks.

Through monitoring the developments after the session, we have observed that the directives of the session chairman have been seriously implemented. Specifically, the Standing Committee and the Committees of the Provincial People's Council have regularly urged the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments to fulfill their promises made at the session; they have also urged the resolution of requests, proposals, and feedback from voters; and they have conducted oversight and surveys to identify shortcomings and difficulties in order to make timely recommendations and solutions. Finally, with a proactive approach, after each session, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council organizes a session review, which is a way for the Provincial People's Council sessions to continue to be improved and enhanced in quality, thereby better fulfilling its role as the highest power body in the locality.

Minh Chi