The head of the agency should be replaced because of prolonged complaints and denunciations.

In a recent discussion session at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc commented: “People make many complaints and denunciations because commune and district chairmen rarely receive people or do not receive them properly, and are not responsible to the people.” This affects the prestige of the apparatus, causing frustration in society.

Reporter interviewed Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep - Head of the Central Citizen Reception Committee (Government Inspectorate).

PV:How is regular and unscheduled citizen reception regulated by law, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep: Regular citizen reception schedule, according to regulations, the Provincial Chairman must receive citizens once a month; the Minister, the Government Inspector General, and the Head of the Government Office receive citizens at the regular citizen reception office once a month. At the district level, it is twice a month.

Although there are legal regulations, through monitoring many localities, it is not necessary to follow the law but many leaders receive people at any time, especially at the government level such as the commune level, not only receiving people at the headquarters but the commune chairman also goes to people's homes.

According to the Law and Directive 35 of the Politburo, the Head of the State administrative agency must comply with the Law on Citizen Reception and the head must implement this regulation. However, in many localities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some large cities, the majority of the authority is delegated to the deputy.

Our point of view is that it is not necessarily the leader, but in many localities, the Chairman still organizes meetings with people every month, such as Quang Ninh, Tien Giang... The Chairman can meet people every month of the year, so why do other localities use the excuse of being busy and not being able to meet people?

PV:Is it not only when there is a hot spot that we receive citizens, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep: According to the Law, regular citizen receptions have a certain date, and citizens are notified. However, when a hot spot occurs, the leader must receive citizens immediately, which is an unscheduled reception.

Not only to resolve complaints and denunciations of citizens but also to receive the grievances that have just arisen right at the grassroots level. While resolving the grievances and complaints of the people, we also listen to the people to build the government or propagate and popularize the policies and guidelines of our locality, only then will the people support us.

PV:Receiving citizens is meaningful and the Law has specific regulations, but why is there still a phenomenon of "avoiding" people in some localities, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep: The first is fear, not having enough courage and qualifications to receive people; the second is laziness, not seeing one's responsibilities according to the Law and not seeing one's responsibilities to the people.

When receiving, people feel that the person they voted for is responsible to the people, the people are respected. In addition, when you receive people, you will know the content, not only to resolve complaints and denunciations but also to plan policies, bring the policies of your locality to the people, propagate and disseminate laws to the people so that they participate, support and implement those policies.

PV:Do you think that the leadership team also has people whose qualifications and abilities are not sufficient to ensure the reception of citizens?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep: In this case, people have reported that not only civil servants but also district and even provincial leaders who received people did not have enough courage or information to resolve the issue, making people even more upset.

We have met and talked with the people, but the local leaders did not say a word. So the people will not trust and will not agree.

There are also people who are so upset that they take actions that go beyond the law, such as insulting and cursing. With such people, officials who receive people and leaders need to be extremely calm, put themselves in the shoes of the people, and ask why they are upset, listen to them, or slowly explain so that people can understand better.

PV:Recalling the complaints and denunciations in Thu Thiem, or before that in Dong Tam (Hanoi), do you think that if we had promptly resolved the issue at the grassroots level, perhaps the matter would not have been so serious?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep: That is very true. When people's concerns arise from the very beginning, if the grassroots level closest to the people cares about their interests, dialogues with them to resolve them, and even if something exceeds their authority, reports and proposes to higher levels for dialogue, the matter will be thoroughly resolved.

In addition to resolving complaints and denunciations from the people, through that, we can propagate and mobilize people to accompany and support the government to implement local policies as well as legal regulations. If people's concerns are left for too long, the legal consequences and solutions later will be very difficult, not just overnight.

PV: The issues that people choose to discuss or want to have answered are often hot issues. According to you, to limit situations that go off script, before the dialogue, what issues should leaders pay attention to for the dialogue to be successful?

Mr. Nguyen Hong Diep:If the dialogue between leaders and people is to solve pressing problems that arise daily, the first thing to do is to listen.

But contact and dialogue to issue a decision to resolve must follow the process, the leader must grasp the content, before the dialogue must listen to the departments, professional levels report the inspection results, or report the content of the people's complaints to make decisions, guide people to the content of the complaint, denunciation or their reflection so that the meeting achieves results.

On the other hand, when having direct dialogue with people, there must be regulations and notices to the people so that they cooperate with you.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and examination of the responsibility of heads of state administrative agencies in receiving citizens and handling complaints and denunciations. The arrangement of staff to receive citizens also needs attention. Arranging good, ethical staff who not only understand legal regulations but also understand society is necessary to receive and mobilize citizens.

In my opinion, there needs to be strong change. If any locality has a head of a state administrative agency that lets complaints and denunciations linger for a long time, they should boldly replace him. There are no administrative sanctions regulations on handling officials who violate this, but there are Party regulations, so it is best for the head or superior agency to replace that person.

PV:Thank you sir./.