Lesson 1: Clearly define the direction and persistently refine the policy.
Lesson 2: Proactive and creative from the grassroots level, meeting practical needs.
Lesson 4: Relying on the people, multiplying the Party's strength.
Lesson 5: Creating a powerful shift in awareness and action
Leaders of the Phu Rieng District Party Committee ( Binh Phuoc province ) exchanged views and gathered feedback from the people at the grassroots level.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and other political and social organizations' oversight and social criticism are methods of controlling the people's power to implement the mechanism of "Party leadership, State management, and people's ownership," contributing to social consensus and a close relationship between the Party, the State, and the people.
Expand the scope and forms of supervision.
Party documents and regulations, and the State's system of policies and laws, clearly recognize the rights and emphasize the supervisory role of the people through the Vietnam Fatherland Front and political and social organizations. The Politburo of the 11th Party Congress issued the Regulations on Social Supervision and Criticism of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and political and social organizations (attached to Decision No. 217-QD/TW, dated December 12, 2013).
The regulations define "supervision" as the monitoring, detection, review, and evaluation of recommendations to agencies, organizations, and officials, Party members, elected representatives, and state employees regarding the implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws and regulations.
Over the past five years, the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels has chaired and coordinated 307,311 supervision activities, including 10,191 at the provincial level, 54,279 at the district level, and 242,841 at the commune level.
In implementing Decision 217-QD/TW, the Fatherland Front at all levels has proactively and promptly conducted supervision from the grassroots level, selecting subjects and content for supervision with a focus on key areas, concentrating on major policies and guidelines of the Party and State, issues directly related to the legitimate rights and interests of the people, especially pressing issues that attract public attention.
As in 2022, the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels, while monitoring the implementation of asset recovery in criminal cases involving corruption and economic crimes, pointed out limitations in this work. These include: inconsistent mechanisms, policies, and laws; low rates of recommendations and proposals from functional agencies regarding the initiation and investigation of cases; lack of appropriate mechanisms for applying preventive measures during the pre-trial phase; insufficient human resources and infrastructure; and a lack of attention to asset recovery during the litigation phase, which can easily lead to asset dissipation...
From 2018-2022, the three levels of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the People's Inspection Committee and the Community Investment Monitoring Committee in Quang Binh organized 3,359 direct monitoring visits; monitored through research and review of 877 documents from functional agencies; and participated in 280 monitoring visits by the National Assembly delegation and the Standing Committee of the People's Council at the same level.
During the period 2018-2023, the Fatherland Front at all levels in Binh Phuoc conducted 386 thematic supervision sessions through indirect methods (researching and reviewing documents from competent authorities related to the legitimate rights and interests of the people) and 591 supervision sessions through direct supervision teams.
According to Ms. Le Thi Xuan Trang, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Phuoc province, because indirect supervision makes it difficult to conduct in-depth and comprehensive assessments, the Fatherland Front at all levels in the province focuses on direct supervision, accessing files and reports while simultaneously conducting surveys, asking questions, and listening to information directly from the units. In 2023, when supervising the implementation of the Program to Reduce 1,000 Poor Households of Ethnic Minorities, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Phuoc province conducted direct supervision at the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the People's Committee of Binh Long town, and the People's Committees of Hon Quan, Bu Dop, and Phu Rieng districts, and indirect supervision through reports from the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee and four districts: Bu Dang, Loc Ninh, Bu Gia Map, and Dong Phu.
Over the past five years, the Women's Union at all levels in Ho Chi Minh City has conducted monitoring on 1,784 issues. Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union, shared: Before monitoring, the Union conducts surveys (via a mobile application) to gather feedback from officials, members, and local people on the actual situation related to the monitoring issue. Along with studying documents and materials, the monitoring team conducts on-site visits and organizes discussions and seminars. For example, when monitoring food safety and hygiene, the team invites additional workers and small traders who are members of the Union near the market area to ensure more effective monitoring.
In 2023, while monitoring the development of sustainable agricultural and forestry production, and leveraging the potential and strengths of various regions to produce goods along the value chain, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Bac Kan province conducted a survey and direct monitoring visit to the People's Committees of four districts: Pac Nam, Cho Don, Cho Moi, and Na Ri; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; and several villages with value chain production projects and community livelihood projects. Simultaneously, monitoring was conducted through reports from 14 communes in six districts.
Ms. Do Thi Minh Hoa, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Bac Kan province, explained: This approach ensures the depth of monitoring activities and that the recommendations and proposals following the monitoring are more diverse, practical, and feasible.
Objective, scientific, and enhanced consensus.
Social critique involves commenting on, evaluating, and expressing opinions and recommendations regarding draft policies, guidelines, and laws of the Party and the State. Through this activity, various segments of the population, through their legitimate representatives such as the Vietnam Fatherland Front and political and social organizations, identify and propose solutions to shortcomings, inaccuracies, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in draft documents of Party and State agencies. This contributes to ensuring that Party resolutions and State mechanisms and policies accurately reflect the realities of life, the aspirations, will, and legitimate interests of the people, clearly demonstrating the superiority of socialist democracy.
Statistics from 2013-2021 show that the Vietnam Fatherland Front and political and social organizations at all levels have chaired nearly 132,000 critical review sessions. Of these, the Fatherland Front conducted over 46,000; the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor organized over 54,000; the Vietnam Farmers' Association over 7,500; the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union 2,388; and the Vietnam Women's Union over 21,000. In the last five years, local Fatherland Front organizations have held 85,634 critical review sessions, including 4,446 at the provincial level, 14,384 at the district level, and 66,804 at the commune level.
In Binh Phuoc province, from 2018 to the present, the Fatherland Front at the provincial and district levels has organized 58 social critique conferences. The Fatherland Front at the provincial, district, and commune levels has submitted 225 draft documents for critique, seeking opinions from organizations and individuals. These include resolutions, programs, and projects of Party committees; and resolutions of People's Councils and People's Committees at the same level. Ms. Le Thi Xuan Trang, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Binh Phuoc province, assessed that the Fatherland Front at the commune level has not been able to organize social critique conferences due to limitations in human resources, staff qualifications, and funding. Regarding the method of soliciting feedback on draft documents, units have achieved high effectiveness when they have dedicated consultants and collaborators with the necessary skills and expertise to participate effectively in the critique process.
During the period 2013-2023, the Fatherland Front at all levels in Bac Kan province conducted social critique of 194 documents, including draft reports, resolutions, decisions, projects, programs, and plans of the People's Council, People's Committee at the same level, and departments and agencies. Ms. Do Thi Minh Hoa, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Bac Kan province, stated: Social critique through organized conferences has proven highly effective, with direct, open, and transparent feedback, and delegates engaging in multi-faceted discussions and exchanges. The participation of media outlets has also helped to widely disseminate the critique content to the general public.
In 2023, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ninh Thuan province organized five social critique conferences on major policies of significant importance to the province's development. These included: the draft Resolution of the Provincial Party Committee on building Phan Rang-Thap Cham City to meet the standards of a Type II urban area; the draft Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on regulations supporting businesses and cooperatives in digital transformation; the draft Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on naming the northern coastal road; and the Zoning Plan (scale 1/2,000) for Zone 1 of the General Planning for the construction of the southern coastal tourism area of the province… At the district level, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Phan Rang-Thap Cham city organized four social critique conferences on draft documents, all of which were from the Party committees at the same level. According to Mr. Le Van Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ninh Thuan province, the Provincial Party Standing Committee has requested that the content and issues of social supervision and criticism must be appropriate, accurate, and relevant to the issues of concern to society and the people, avoiding a scattered and unfocused approach. Opinions and recommendations must be carefully selected, accurate, and relevant; the proposed solutions must ensure effectiveness and feasibility; and the implementation of recommendations by Party committees, governments at all levels, sectors, and units after social supervision and criticism must be monitored and supervised.
Mr. Truong Van Hoi, Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Quang Binh province, shared: In the fourth quarter of each year, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee coordinate to request the Standing Committee of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee to conduct social critique on a number of draft legal documents for the following year that directly affect the legitimate rights and interests of the people. From 2017 to the present, through various forms of social critique, the Provincial Fatherland Front has compiled and issued 20 social critique documents with 115 opinions; the district-level Fatherland Front has issued 28 social critique documents with 169 opinions; and the commune-level Fatherland Front has directly participated with 304 opinions. The social critique documents of the Fatherland Front at all levels have been carefully considered, incorporated, and refined by the drafting agencies. Conduct thorough research and consideration before issuing policies that have a significant impact on people's lives (such as regulations on tuition fees for public preschool and primary education institutions in the province for the 2022-2023 school year; regulations on the area for splitting and merging land plots with certain land types in the province...).
Since 2023, the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Quang Ninh province has been conducting social critique through three forms: organizing social critique conferences; directly soliciting opinions from organizations and individuals on draft documents; and holding direct dialogues between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and agencies and organizations whose draft documents require critique.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan, Vice Chairwoman of the Quang Ninh Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, shared experiences on successfully implementing social monitoring and criticism activities. These include: expanding the content and forms of social monitoring and criticism; selecting topics for monitoring and criticism that stem from issues of concern and frustration to the people; developing specific, detailed, and easy-to-implement outlines, forms, and minutes; and ensuring that monitoring and criticism teams consist of professionals with expertise, a thorough understanding of the law and specialized topics, and practical experience.
Surveys in many localities have shown that where Party committees pay attention to and have a correct understanding of social supervision and criticism, and where the Fatherland Front and political-social organizations at all levels are closely involved with the grassroots, proactive, and creative, this work is carried out well and has a positive impact on socio-economic development.
Limitations in social monitoring and criticism activities are also clearly evident in many localities and units. Specifically, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations in some localities, especially at the grassroots level, are hesitant in selecting the content of social monitoring and criticism; opinions and recommendations after social monitoring and criticism are not in-depth and lack persuasiveness; the follow-up and urging of the resolution of recommendations lack decisiveness and do not see it through to the end. Some localities have only implemented monitoring through delegations and coordinated monitoring; they have not paid attention to monitoring through the study and review of documents. Social criticism has focused mainly on projects and draft legal documents, and has not yet been carried out on documents issued by Party committees at all levels, or important policies that directly affect the legitimate rights and interests of the people, issued by local governments. Social criticism in the form of direct dialogue between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the agencies and organizations that drafted the documents has hardly been implemented. In many localities, the infrastructure and funding for social monitoring and criticism remain challenging, especially in attracting the participation of advisory councils, experts, managers, scientists, and in conducting surveys, investigations, and directly gathering public opinions.
Social monitoring and criticism are important functions of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, serving as a meaningful information channel that ensures all policies, laws, and regulations are the crystallized product of the "Party's will" and the "people's aspirations." It also provides a vibrant practical realization and evidence of the overarching principle that "the Party is subject to the people's supervision." This is also the basis for effectively and substantively organizing the people's participation in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of organizations within the political system, the qualities and capabilities of cadres and Party members; and for seriously and increasingly effectively implementing the inevitable and fundamental aspect of Party building: strengthening the close relationship between the Party and the people, and relying on the people to build the Party.
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