The draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents is opening up a mechanism for the People's Committees at the commune level to issue decisions to carry out assigned, decentralized or authorized tasks.
However, there have been concerns about decentralization and delegation of authority, especially in the context of up to 1,060 tasks and authority from the district level being transferred to the commune level.
On June 12, when the National Assembly discussed the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga (Hai Duong delegation) warned: "It is necessary to carefully consider giving decentralization to the People's Committees at the commune level to avoid the case where the new commune-level government becomes an intermediary level".
First of all, it is necessary to affirm that decentralization and delegation of power are correct and inevitable policies in the development trend, but they must be truly decentralized.
That is, decentralization and delegation of authority must come with the following conditions to ensure implementation: people, budget, legal basis and organizational capacity.
In reality, commune-level government is still a weakness in the apparatus: many places lack professional staff, administrative management capacity is limited, not to mention the facilities and technology for management that have not kept up with the requirements of digitalization.
If we only assign work without "giving force", it will not only not reduce the burden on the superiors, but also make the commune level turn into a procedure transit station when it is not qualified to decide, nor dare to take responsibility.
On the other hand, "energy" cannot be too hasty, but needs a decentralization roadmap that is both selective and creates conditions for the commune level to improve capacity and avoid making the commune level a place to suffer the consequences of decisions beyond the organization capacity.
In addition, the commune level being given the right to issue legal documents requires a strict legal quality control system.
In particular, in the context of merging administrative units of 2-3 communes, or even more into 1, as at present, the unification of legal documents between old communes and new communes needs clear instructions to avoid confusion.
A commune-level government capable of making decisions on its own, instead of following detailed instructions from superiors, must be supported by more fundamental changes: streamlining the apparatus but efficiency, reforming the civil service regime, enhancing training for cadres, especially the power control mechanism and feedback from the people.
In other words, decentralization to the commune level is not to relieve the burden on the superiors, but is a strategic administrative reform step to bring power closer to the people, enhance management efficiency, and build a state of service.
To do so, decentralization must be associated with the human factor, with accountability and implementation capacity at the grassroots level. And above all, power is only truly effective when it is given to those who are qualified to use it for the common good.
