Piloting the urban government model, will Hanoi have district chiefs?

Mr. Vu Duc Bao, Head of the Hanoi Party Committee's Organization Board, spoke at the conference. Photo: Truong Phong

Speaking at the Conference, many opinions of Party Secretaries of wards in Dong Da district agreed with the policy of unifying the positions of Secretary and Chairman of the Ward People's Committee, along with considering the abolition of the People's Council at the ward level.

Some delegates also expressed concern that not organizing a ward-level People's Council would cause chaos in the apparatus, especially the loss of its supervisory role, leading to abuse of power and the loss of its role as a representative of the people's power. However, many opinions said that the ward-level People's Council mainly operates as a formality, and the supervisory work should be focused on the Fatherland Front and mass organizations.

Mr. Vuong The Duong - Secretary of the Party Committee of Khuong Thuong Ward asked: How many meetings does the Ward People's Council supervise each year? In fact, people do not go to the place where the Ward People's Council delegates meet voters but go directly to meet the Ward Secretary and Chairman.

“It is not necessary to organize the People's Council institution at the ward level. The cost of the apparatus is also quite large. Unifying the Party Committee and the government is an objective trend. When the People's Council is abolished, we must increase control of power through the people's lens...”, Mr. Duong said.

Regarding the issue of whether the district's specialized departments should be directly under the Departments or not, Dong Da District Party Secretary Le Tien Nhat said: We must get out of the mindset that if there is a department or branch, there will be a department at the lower level.

“The problem is how much is needed. For example, before 2004, the Urban Department and the Environment Department were one, but they were later separated. In my opinion, it is okay to merge urban, land, and environmental management into one. What are the functions and authority of the Economic Department? Is it necessary to establish it? How should it be promoted?”, Mr. Nhat said.

The representative of Dong Da District People's Committee said that the administrative agencies of districts, wards and towns should be organized according to the administrative chief institution, with the heads being the District Chief, Ward Chief and Mayor instead of the current People's Committee institution.

According to Mr. Vo Nguyen Phong, Chairman of Dong Da District People's Committee, with the institution of a decentralized administrative head, he has the authority to decide and organize administrative, economic and social activities in the district, ward and town.

Mr. Phong also said that implementing this model will ensure compactness, efficiency, proactiveness and flexibility. At the same time, supervision is still guaranteed, because there are many horizontal and vertical supervision mechanisms from the City People's Committee to departments and branches.

Speaking at the conference, Head of the Hanoi Party Committee's Organization Committee Vu Duc Bao said: There are many opinions about the organization of the apparatus, and the first principle is streamlining. To streamline, there must be many discussions such as whether there is still a District People's Council or not. If there is, it must be restructured because now the District People's Council "both plays football and blows the whistle".

According to Mr. Bao, the ward-level People's Council is mainly people from residential groups, retired, and does not have the conditions to have information and knowledge to participate. "The decisions of the ward-level People's Council are also based on planned decisions. As for decisions on socio-economic targets, they must be done according to functions and tasks," said Mr. Bao.

Mr. Bao said that he will continue to study the arrangement of departments and the government at one level or two levels. “We are thinking and have many options. The government may still have three levels like it does now, but it is clear who will remain or who will not remain, or even the government will only have two levels: city and district, ward as administrative units,” Mr. Bao said.