"Some ministries and sectors still have a mentality of deference and avoidance of decentralization and delegation of power because it affects local interests, or are afraid of decentralization to localities but localities have not yet ensured implementation."
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Truong Hai Long spoke about the current situation that has hindered the decentralization process for a long time when answering the question of why "many small matters still need to be submitted to the Central level" at the Government press conference on the afternoon of October 7.
In fact, the avoidance of decentralization and delegation of power is not only due to the fear of sharing power, but more deeply, it comes from the clinging to interests. Some ministries and sectors do not want to share power with localities because they are afraid of losing the interests associated with important decisions.
This not only slows down the development process but also puts a burden on the central government, which should be focusing on bigger issues. This leads to delays when even the smallest matters have to wait for the central government's opinion and approval.
It is worth mentioning that the refusal to decentralize, coupled with the request-grant mechanism, has caused localities to increase “compliance costs”, prolong administrative procedures, and cause people and businesses to lose many business and investment opportunities. Clearly, the personal interests of a small group have caused great damage to the whole country.
To eliminate this evasion, the Government has recently taken drastic actions. Notably, the Prime Minister has established a Steering Committee to review and resolve problems in the system of legal documents.
It emphasizes the requirement that when drafting laws, the presiding agencies need to delegate authority in the spirit of "whichever level does it, that level is responsible, clearly define the person and the job", simplify administrative procedures, and reduce compliance costs when implementing legal documents.
This move shows the Government's determination to remove legal barriers, promote the implementation of one law amending many laws, thereby simplifying administrative procedures and decentralizing power more strongly to localities.
However, in parallel with amending legal documents, it is also necessary to publicize the identities of ministries and sectors that are deliberately avoiding this for personal gain. Publicity is the best way for people to know, check and monitor the process of exercising power.
The idea of "people knowing, people discussing, people checking" will put no small amount of pressure on ministries and sectors that have a procrastinating mindset and do not want to change.
At the same time, to be fair, we must also frankly point out the localities that do not have enough capacity to "shoulder" the decentralized responsibilities as Deputy Minister Truong Hai Long pointed out, so that measures can be taken to help improve management capacity!
