Using social media to consult the public in policy-making.

Delegates participating in the training course on skills for provincial People's Council representatives in 2019. Photo: Mai Hoa

Hactivities of People's Council representativesembarrassed

On the morning of March 14th, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council held the opening ceremony of the 2019 training conference on People's Council operational skills for provincial People's Council delegates and Standing Committees of People's Councils of districts, cities, and towns.

In her opening remarks at the conference, Comrade Cao Thi Hien, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, affirmed that in recent times, with the implementation of the Law on Organization of Local Government, the Law on National Assembly Supervision, and related regulations, along with the implementation of the Project to improve the quality and effectiveness of the Provincial People's Council's activities for the 2016-2021 term, the activities of the People's Council have continued to undergo many innovations and improvements in quality.

Nevertheless, in carrying out some activities of the People's Council representatives, there are still difficulties and uncertainties such as: analyzing and evaluating the impact of policies and consulting the people during the policy-making process at the local level; organizing explanatory and questioning sessions of the Standing Committee of the People's Council; reviewing and deciding on the approval of local budget settlements; decisions related to people's contributions; supervising judicial activities regarding investigation, prosecution, trial, and enforcement of court decisions; supervising the resolution of complaints, denunciations, and petitions from voters…

Therefore, organizing this training conference on operational skills for People's Council representatives is extremely necessary to equip them with valuable knowledge and experience in performing their duties, worthy of the trust and expectations of voters and the people, in order to fulfill their responsibilities and live up to the expectations of the people.

Engaging with voters to gather public opinion is also an effective form of community consultation. Photo: Mai Hoa

Using social media to consult the public.

At the beginning of the conference, delegates listened to Mr. Nguyen Si Dung, former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office, present a specialized topic on "Skills in analyzing and evaluating the impact of policies and consulting the public in the process of policy promulgation at the local level."

According to Mr. Nguyen Si Dung, there has long been a lack of attention to assessing the impact of policies in order to consider and choose the "perfect" comparative benefits between enacting and not enacting policies during the policy-making and implementation process.

Mr. Nguyen Si Dung, former Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office, presented a专题 (special topic) on "Skills in analyzing and evaluating the impact of policies and consulting the public in the process of policy promulgation at the local level." Photo: Mai Hoa

At the local level, the primary responsibility for assessing the impact of policies rests with the Provincial People's Committee and the departments and agencies that drafted the policies. It must also be clearly defined that this document is mandatory to be submitted along with the policy draft, and this should be coupled with the development of a team of skilled officials capable of assessing policy impacts.

Provincial People's Council representatives must understand the policy impact assessment process and possess the skills to read and evaluate policy impact assessment documents to determine whether the issues raised are correct and whether the policy's impact ensures justice and social equity, prioritizing the interests of the locality and the people above all else.

Delegates exchange views at the conference. Photo: Mai Hoa

To fulfill this role, according to Mr. Nguyen Si Dung, delegates must conduct a public consultation process, including consultations with those affected by the policy and with experts. This consultation should be conducted through multiple channels: meetings, visits, contact with constituents, emails, phone calls, and social media; avoiding superficial, time-consuming, and ineffective approaches.

Over the two days of March 14th and 15th, delegates continued to receive instruction on the remaining four topics from Mr. Phan Trung Ly - former member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, former Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee; Mr. Bui Duc Thu - former Deputy Head of the National Assembly's Delegation Affairs Committee; and Mr. Bui Nguyen Suy - former Deputy Head of the National Assembly's People's Petition Committee.

Conference scene. Photo: Mai Hoa

The topics covered include skills in organizing explanatory sessions of the Standing Committee of the People's Council; reviewing and approving local budget settlements and decisions related to people's contributions; supervising judicial activities regarding investigation, prosecution, trial, and enforcement of court decisions; and skills in monitoring the handling of complaints, denunciations, and petitions from voters.