Implementing the National Assembly's monitoring program 2014

On the morning of August 29th, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly held a conference to implement the National Assembly's and the Standing Committee's oversight program for 2014.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Huynh Ngoc Son chaired the meeting.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Huynh Ngoc Son delivered the opening remarks at the conference.
(Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA)

According to Resolution No. 47/2013/QH13, at the 7th and 8th sessions, the National Assembly conducted supreme oversight focusing on several key activities, including reviewing reports from relevant agencies as prescribed by law, questioning and supervising two thematic areas: the implementation of policies and laws on poverty reduction during the 2005-2012 period; and the implementation of economic restructuring in the areas of public investment, state-owned enterprises, and the banking system, in accordance with Resolution No. 10/2011/QH13 of the National Assembly on the 5-year socio-economic development plan 2011-2015.

In 2014, in addition to reviewing reports from the Government and relevant agencies, organizing questioning sessions, and preparing for the National Assembly's oversight of the two aforementioned thematic areas, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly directly conducted oversight of thematic areas at its sessions, including the thematic area of ​​overall economic and social effectiveness associated with ensuring national security and defense of the Tan Rai and Nhan Co bauxite projects invested by the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Corporation (April 2014 session); and the thematic area of ​​implementing policies and laws on climate change prevention and control in the Mekong Delta (September 2014 session).

The National Assembly Standing Committee has assigned the National Ethnic Council and other Committees the specific plan for implementing the monitoring activities.

While agreeing with the monitoring program, representatives from the National Assembly's Ethnic Council and Committees also proposed several points to improve its implementation.

Mr. Danh Ut, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council, acknowledged that in recent times, the agencies under supervision have made many changes, creating favorable conditions for the supervisory delegation. However, the information reports are still delayed, even though this work has been announced months in advance. In some localities, there is still a situation where the assignment of personnel to work with the supervisory delegation is inappropriate.

Regarding oversight through accountability sessions, the National Assembly Standing Committee's notification of detailed content for these sessions is often delayed, leaving insufficient time for delegates to study.

According to the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs, from October 2013 to January 2014, the Committee will conduct oversight in 15 provinces and cities. The Committee will monitor the implementation of policies and laws on poverty reduction during the 2005-2012 period, report the results to the National Assembly Standing Committee at its April 2014 session, and prepare a report to be submitted to the National Assembly at its 7th session.

Representatives of this Committee suggested strengthening the supervisory role of National Assembly delegations in provinces and cities, the assistance of central-level delegates running for election in localities, and the specialized delegates of the National Ethnic Council and the National Assembly Committees.

During the monitoring period, in addition to monitoring policies, attention should be paid to identifying and addressing specific obstacles, and recommending solutions to negative practices and corruption, avoiding general monitoring that is not grounded in reality.

Some have suggested that there needs to be coordination, increased support, and participation from the State Audit Office to improve the quality of oversight activities, because the National Assembly's oversight activities have limited opportunities to participate in financial oversight, while audit reports are very in-depth and valuable in supporting the oversight of the National Assembly and its agencies.

Agreeing with the delegates' opinions, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh affirmed that supervision is very important. Through supervision, many issues related to improving mechanisms and policies have been proposed, existing shortcomings have been identified, and solutions have been suggested in the process of implementing tasks.

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that government agencies, government members, and the National Assembly need to coordinate more closely. The National Assembly's Ethnic Council and the committees assigned to oversee the supervision should discuss and exchange ideas right from the drafting stage, creating conditions for the supervised agencies to prepare outlines that are more relevant to the requirements and objectives, and in a timely manner.

The program for monitoring localities needs to be planned in advance to ensure proactive implementation. For the same monitoring content, only one meeting should be scheduled. For issues related to localities, ministries, and sectors, in addition to the lead agency, the monitoring team should request official reports from the localities.

Concluding the conference, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Huynh Ngoc Son requested the Council of Ethnic Minorities, the Committees, and the agencies of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to urgently develop the 2014 supervision program, exchange opinions among members of the Council and Committees, create a plan clearly stating the time, content, and location, and report to the National Assembly Office for effective implementation.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly directed improvements in the methods of conducting supervision, enhancing the quality of supervision, focusing on meeting with those directly subject to supervision, addressing voters' petitions, and strengthening the accountability activities of the Committees.

National Assembly delegations should be more proactive in their oversight activities at the local level. Agencies subject to oversight should focus on cooperating by providing information before the oversight and implementing recommendations after the oversight.

According to VNA - LT