Grassroots authorities assume the tasks and powers of commune and district levels.

The draft Law on Organization of Local Government stipulates that grassroots authorities assume the tasks and powers of local authorities at commune and district levels.

One-stop shop of the People's Committee of Tho Xuong ward, Bac Giang city. (Photo: Dong Thuy/VNA)

Fully institutionalizing the Party's guiding viewpoints stated in the Resolution of the 13th National Congress, Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW and the Conclusions of the Politburo and the Secretariat on implementing research and proposing to continue to reorganize the apparatus of the political system; specifically the provisions of the 2013 Constitution (after amendment) on the organization of two-level local governments; continuing to promote decentralization and thorough decentralization between central and local state agencies; between provincial-level local governments and grassroots-level local governments; innovating the organizational model and operation methods of two-level local governments, the Ministry of Home Affairs has presided over and coordinated with relevant agencies to develop the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended).

The Law Project consists of 7 chapters and 49 articles, fundamentally and comprehensively amending the provisions of the current Law on Organization of Local Government, regulating administrative units and the organization and operation of local governments in administrative units.

One of the notable points in the draft Law is to amend the regulations related to the division of tasks and powers of local governments at provincial and grassroots levels and to promote decentralization between the Central and local governments and between provincial and grassroots local governments.

Based on the two-level local government model (including provincial and grassroots levels), the draft law clearly defines the tasks and powers of each level of local government in the following direction: The provincial level focuses on promulgating mechanisms, policies, strategies, planning, macro-management, inter-regional and inter-base issues that exceed the capacity of the grassroots to resolve, require deep expertise and ensure consistency across the province.

The grassroots level is the level of policy implementation (from the central and provincial levels), focusing on tasks serving the people, directly solving community problems, providing basic and essential public services to local people; tasks that require community participation, promoting the initiative and creativity of the grassroots level.

Department of receiving and returning administrative procedure results of Ngoc Lac District People's Committee, Thanh Hoa Province. (Photo: VNA)

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that in order to consistently implement the principle of "local decision, local action, local responsibility", in addition to the tasks and powers of provincial-level local authorities according to current regulations, the draft Law has added a number of provisions to promote decentralization from the Central Government to provincial-level local authorities, especially in promulgating mechanisms, policies, planning, finance, budget, investment, etc. of localities.

Grassroots local authorities assume the tasks and powers of current commune and district level local authorities.

At the same time, the draft Law stipulates that based on practical situations, provincial-level local authorities shall promote decentralization and delegate their tasks and powers to grassroots-level local authorities in order to improve the governance capacity of the grassroots level, enhance efficiency, effectiveness and efficiency in state management and promote local socio-economic development.

In particular, it is necessary to promote decentralization and authorization to local ward authorities to manage and develop urban areas, develop urban economy and promote decentralization and authorization to local authorities of special zones to grant autonomy in state management in island areas, ensuring flexibility and proactive response when sudden and unexpected events and situations occur to firmly protect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country in seas and islands, promote the advantages and potential of the marine economy, integrate into the international economy, ensure attracting people to live, protect and develop islands.

To ensure that local authorities at all levels effectively perform their assigned tasks and powers, the draft Law has amended and supplemented regulations on the organizational structure of provincial and grassroots local authorities. Accordingly, provincial local authorities basically maintain the current regulations.

The Draft Law only increases the appropriate number of provincial People's Council delegates to match the merger of provincial administrative units.

The number of elected People's Council delegates in mountainous and highland provinces increases from 75 to 90 delegates; the number of elected People's Council delegates in the remaining provinces and centrally-run cities increases from 85 to 90 delegates; the People's Councils of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City elect 125 delegates (equal to the number prescribed in the Law on the Capital applicable to Hanoi).

The draft law supplements the regulation that members of the Provincial People's Council Committees can be full-time delegates as prescribed by the National Assembly Standing Committee to inherit the regulations in the National Assembly's Resolutions on the organization of urban government (the 2024 Capital Law and the National Assembly's Resolutions on the organization of urban government in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hai Phong have stipulated that each Committee of the City People's Council has 1 full-time member).

For local authorities at the grassroots level, the draft Law stipulates the organizational structure of the People's Council and People's Committee at the grassroots level (commune, ward, special zone) basically designed as for the People's Council and People's Committee at the district level (before dissolution) but on a smaller scale.

The maximum number of delegates to the People's Council at the grassroots level is 40 delegates (except for communes with isolated locations that do not undergo reorganization and have a small population, they will basically remain the same as prescribed by the current Law); The People's Council at the grassroots level has 2 Committees: the Legal Committee and the Socio-Economic Committee; The People's Committee at the grassroots level is allowed to organize specialized agencies with appropriate numbers.

The Draft Law inherits current regulations on regular meetings of the People's Council at least twice a year and thematic meetings or meetings to resolve unexpected matters./.

The draft Law on Organization of Local Government stipulates that grassroots authorities assume the tasks and powers of local authorities at commune and district levels.

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