Questioning is an effective mechanism for voters and people to directly exchange information.

The National Assembly discussed in the Hall the draft Resolution of the National Assembly amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution and the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended).

Recorded millions of comments from the people

On the morning of May 14, the National Assembly discussed in the Hall the draft Resolution of the National Assembly amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution and the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended). The session was broadcast live on national radio and television and the Government Portal.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh said that earlier, on the afternoon of May 7, 2025, National Assembly deputies discussed in groups the draft resolution amending the Constitution and the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended).

The Secretary General and Head of the Office of the National Assembly has sent a report summarizing the opinions discussed in groups on these contents to the National Assembly delegates. Accordingly, there were 109 opinions from the National Assembly delegates on the draft Resolution amending and supplementing the Constitution; 132 opinions on the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended).

The Committee for Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the 2013 Constitution has also coordinated with the Government, the Ministry of Public Security, and relevant agencies to collect public opinions from May 6, 2025 on the National Assembly Electronic Information Portal, the Government Electronic Information Portal, and the VNeID application of the National Database.

To date, there have been millions of comments from the people. Preliminary synthesis shows that, basically, the vast majority of comments agree and express high consensus with the necessity of the scope and content of amending the 2013 Constitution. The comments expressed in the group mainly contribute to the way of expressing sentences and expressions in the draft resolution.

Regarding the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended), the majority of National Assembly deputies also expressed their high agreement with the contents of the draft law. Some opinions were directly contributed to specific provisions and the Government issued Report No. 420 dated May 13, initially accepting and revising the draft law based on the opinions of National Assembly deputies in the group discussion and sent it to National Assembly deputies.

Carefully review the power monitoring mechanism for the Chief Justice of the People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy

Opening the discussion session, giving comments on removing the right of People's Council delegates to question the Chief Justice of the People's Court (PC) and the Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy (PPC) as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 1 of the draft Resolution amending and supplementing Clause 2, Article 115 of the 2021 Constitution, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (Da Nang Delegation) said that according to the Drafting Committee, there are 2 reasons to remove the right of People's Council delegates to question the Chief Justice of the PC and the Chief Prosecutor of the PPC.

Therefore, Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy expressed her concern: “Could it be that the People’s Court and the Regional People’s Procuracy will be the only judicial agencies in our country that are not subject to supervision in the form of questioning by People’s Council delegates? If so, who will the people who are wrongly accused rely on to question and protect their rights?”

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy proposed that the National Assembly carefully consider the mechanism for monitoring the power of these agencies.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy said that without the right to question People's Council delegates, it will be difficult to request the Chief Justice or the Chief Prosecutor to appear before the People's Council session to specifically answer each issue in public dialogue with delegates and voters.

The delegate emphasized that, in current conditions, questioning is a rare effective mechanism for People's Council delegates and more broadly, voters and local people to request information and exchange directly with the Chief Justice and the Chief Prosecutor.

Therefore, the assertion that the People's Council can still supervise does not accurately reflect the reality of supervision activities. The fact that the Constitution no longer stipulates the authority of People's Council delegates to question the Chief Justice of the People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy is contrary to Resolution 27 of the Central Committee to build and perfect the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam.

Therefore, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy proposed that the National Assembly retain the provision on the right of People's Council delegates to question the Chief Justice of the People's Court and the Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy in the Constitution.

On that basis, specialized laws provide specific regulations in accordance with the new organizational model. This is the mechanism for controlling state power and this content has not yet arisen any problems.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan focused on clarifying the content of election, dismissal, and transfer of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee.

Clarify the responsibilities of the People's Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level

Commenting on the Draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended), Delegate Do Thi Viet Ha (Bac Giang Delegation) proposed to more clearly define the responsibilities of the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level in directly directing and managing the settlement of issues within the tasks and powers of specialized agencies and other administrative organizations under the People's Committee at their level, the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level in Clause 4, Article 11.

The delegate said that it is necessary to add to Article 11 of the draft Law the responsibilities of the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level, if necessary, to directly direct and manage the settlement of issues within the tasks and powers of specialized agencies and other administrative organizations under the People's Committee at their level, the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level as stated in Clause 4, Article 11.

However, Delegate Do Thi Viet Ha found that the very general regulation of this authority of the People's Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee at the provincial level "in case of necessity" did not clearly demonstrate the responsibility of the provincial level and could lead to difficulties, inadequacies, and lack of unity in the organization of implementation; therefore, it was proposed to have stricter regulations in this Law or assign the Government to provide detailed regulations to strengthen the responsibility of the provincial level in ensuring the implementation of tasks and powers of local authorities at the commune level.

Also giving comments on the draft Law on Organization of Local Government (amended), Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Binh Duong Delegation) highly appreciated the drafting agency and the verification agency for their efforts in compiling and editing a very important law, submitting it to the ninth session in a very short time, in parallel with amending the Constitution and other documents.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan focused on clarifying the content of election, dismissal, and transfer of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee.

Accordingly, to build institutions, we will have to give more power to localities, but also need to give more power to the Government and the Prime Minister, in accordance with the Constitution's spirit of flexible and unified management of national administration nationwide.

Clause 2, Article 36 of the draft Law on Organization of Local Government stipulates that the People's Council elects the Chairman of the People's Committee upon the recommendation of the Chairman of the People's Council and elects the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee and members of the People's Committee upon the recommendation of the Chairman of the People's Committee. This content is in accordance with the spirit of Article 114 of the current Constitution.

However, in Clause 4, Article 37, it is stipulated that the People's Council also dismisses positions elected by the People's Council, but according to Article 41, when the Prime Minister decides to dismiss the Chairman of the People's Council or transfer the Chairman of the People's Committee, the People's Council does not need to dismiss.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan said that in terms of regulations, it is correct according to the Constitution, but in terms of logic, it is not guaranteed, because the People's Council elects, the People's Council must dismiss, if done correctly as in Article 41, it will not be reasonable.

If Clause 2, Article 41 is kept, delegates think that Article 56 should be amended, the People's Council does not have to elect the position of Chairman but recommends it for the Prime Minister to approve.

If this is done, Article 114 of the Constitution will have to be amended, especially the content of the People's Council electing the People's Committee at the same level has not been amended. Therefore, the delegate suggested that, to unify Article 36 and Article 41 of the draft Law on Organization of Local Government, Article 114 of the Constitution should be amended.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan also suggested reviewing Article 5 of the draft law. Currently, it is stipulated that the People's Council will be held at least 45 days before the opening day. Previously, there would have been no problem, but recently there was a Resolution to shorten the session of the National Assembly and People's Council. We plan to hold the election on March 15, 2026. If it is 45 days, the People's Council meeting will not be held until May 1, which is not in the right spirit.

Phuong Lien

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/chat-van-la-co-che-hieu-qua-de-cu-tri-nhan-dan-thong-tin-trao-doi-truc-tiep-102250514102015827.htm