Lesson 1: Look straight, tell the truth
Commune-level People's Councils also have basic functions: supervising and deciding on important local issues. Despite their important role, in reality, the activities of People's Councils in many communes in Dien Bien province have not fully promoted their position and role; have not met the expectations of voters and people. There are many reasons, but mainly due to the inadequacies in the part-time structure; the quality of delegates, especially in remote communes, is still limited.
Inadequate concurrent structure
In the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, voters in Dien Bien province elected 2,711 commune-level People's Council deputies. Of which, female deputies accounted for 30.8%, ethnic minorities accounted for 83.3%, young people accounted for 63.7%, non-party members accounted for 18.8%... Up to now, due to changes in working positions, dismissals, and retirements, the number of commune-level People's Council deputies has decreased to 2,588 people. Although in this term, with new regulations (implementing the Law on Organization of Local Government 2015, amended in 2019), things have been much more favorable due to the increasingly complete legal system and the increased authority of the commune-level People's Councils, the reality shows that the activities of the commune-level People's Councils still have many shortcomings.
Although the apparatus structure has been increased in number, currently the People's Council at the commune level in Dien Bien province has only one person who is a full-time member (vice chairman of the People's Council or deputy secretary of the commune party committee), the rest are part-time members. The People's Council at the commune level also has two committees: the Legal Committee and the Economic - Social Committee, but the head of the committee is not the permanent member of the People's Council. The inadequacy in the part-time structure makes the activities of the delegates not as effective as expected. In fact, many delegates admit that they have to take on many other jobs, so it is difficult to fulfill their duties as people's representatives. Moreover, some delegates also hold leadership positions in the commune-level government, so when carrying out the responsibilities of delegates, sometimes it is inevitable that they "play football and blow the whistle at the same time".
At the beginning of the 2021-2026 term, Ms. Lo Thi Nham was Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Muong Nhe Commune, Muong Nhe District, and also a delegate of the People's Council of the commune (currently Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Muong Nhe Commune). Performing two tasks at the same time has significantly affected the activities of the People's representative. According to delegate Lo Thi Nham, some delegates who hold concurrent positions are busy with work at their work units, so they have not spent much time performing the duties of a People's Council delegate. While the staff and service apparatus at the People's Council at the commune level is not arranged, almost all the work of the People's Council at the commune level is mainly undertaken by the full-time vice chairperson.
According to Ms. Dinh Thi Bich, Head of the Economic - Social Committee (People's Council of Dien Bien Dong district), in the 2021 - 2026 term, Dien Bien Dong district has 299 People's Council delegates at the commune level. Most of the delegates concurrently hold positions in the Party, government, and mass organizations, so they are busy with professional work, thus significantly affecting the general activities of the council. As for the delegates who do not hold concurrent positions, they are mainly farmers, with limited qualifications, capacity, and experience, or are still respectful, afraid of conflicts, and not bold enough to discuss, debate, and question. In addition, the material facilities, training and fostering regimes, and policies for commune People's Council delegates are still limited.
Limited capacity
The quality of delegates is an important factor that determines the effectiveness of the People's Council's activities. However, the cultural and professional level of delegates at the commune level is still low, many delegates lack basic knowledge of state management and law, and work part-time, leaving little time for delegate activities. This is a major obstacle, causing difficulties and confusion for delegates when performing their duties.
Up to now, some commune-level People's Council delegates do not clearly understand their functions and tasks; do not know how to question; and do not distinguish legal documents. In fact, the commune-level People's Council in the province still has delegates who have only finished grade 3/12, and some delegates cannot even read or write fluently. Therefore, they are not bold enough to participate in speaking, discussing, and questioning. Village and hamlet delegates still lack confidence and are afraid of conflicts in exercising their rights and responsibilities. As delegate Vang Thi Gong, Muong Nhe 2 village, Muong Nhe commune (Muong Nhe district), said: Whenever there is a meeting, contact with voters, or supervision, the commune-level People's Council calls, I participate, but on normal days I go to work in the fields.
Similarly, delegate Thao A Lu, De De Hu II village, Sinh Phinh commune (Tua Chua district), although more than half of his term has passed, is still confused about the role and function of a People's Council delegate.
In reality, the majority of People's Council delegates at the commune level, especially in mountainous and border communes in the province, are mainly ethnic minorities, living in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions. Therefore, access to information and training to improve qualifications and skills is not regular, leading to passivity, especially in participating in contributing to decisions on issues requiring expertise.
In fact, the cultural, professional and political theory levels of the People's Council delegates at the commune level in the province are still limited. For example, Huoi Lech commune (Muong Nhe district) has 19 delegates, of which 3 have a cultural level of 5/12 and 6 have a level of 9/12; Pa My commune (Muong Nhe district) has a delegate who has just finished grade 3/12; Ta Sin Thang commune (Tua Chua district) has a delegate who has just finished grade 4/12...
In addition, the number of delegates who do not hold positions in agencies and organizations accounts for 42.4% (mainly farmers). For example, Dien Bien district has 299 delegates, of which nearly 90 delegates are farmers and village chiefs; of which, ethnic delegates account for 73.9%, professional qualifications below university level account for 52.5% and 50 delegates have only completed secondary school, and some delegates have only completed primary school. This has led to the quality and effectiveness of the People's Council's activities being limited, formalistic and not substantial.
Regarding this issue, Mr. Lo Van Chien, Chairman of the People's Council of Muong Nhe district frankly assessed: In the 2021 - 2026 term, although the quality of delegates has been focused on improving, the capacity of some delegates has not yet met their position and role, especially the capacity to criticize. The research and consideration of the implementation of the function of deciding on issues under the authority of the People's Council is not thorough; the decision on important issues, especially on socio-economics, state budget, and basic construction is still confusing; the quality of the activities of delegates is uneven. Most of the commune People's Council delegates with capacity, qualifications, and experience concurrently hold key positions in the Party Committee, People's Committee, and mass organizations, so the time spent on the activities of the People's Council is not much.
Lesson 2: Activity is still vague
Source: https://baodienbienphu.com.vn/tin-tuc/chinh-tri/217354/khac-phuc-bat-cap-nang-cao-hieu-qua-hdnd-cap-xa
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