Proposal not to have "rigid" regulations on contacting voters after the People's Council session

On the morning of September 24th, continuing the program of the 37th Session, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly considered the draft of two joint resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Government, and the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, detailing the organization of meetings with voters by National Assembly deputies and People's Council representatives at all levels.

A view of the meeting on the morning of September 24th. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Presenting the report, Head of the Delegation Affairs Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai stated that, regarding the matter... voter outreach Following the People's Council session, in order to ensure compliance with legal regulations and suitability to reality, the draft Resolution does not rigidly stipulate post-session voter outreach. The People's Council may report to the voters in various forms. The choice of reporting form is decided by the Standing Committee of the People's Council.

To improve the effectiveness of voter outreach, one solution adopted by localities is to jointly organize voter outreach meetings between representatives of People's Councils at all levels; similar to how National Assembly representatives and People's Council representatives jointly engage with voters. Based on this practice, the Committee on Representative Affairs has stipulated that representatives of People's Councils at higher and lower levels may jointly organize voter outreach meetings, but not exceeding two levels.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai, the Committee on Representative Affairs has also stipulated the responsibilities of the Front Committee at the village and neighborhood level in coordinating with People's Council representatives and the responsibility of compiling opinions and suggestions from voters to the competent authorities for consideration and resolution.

Head of the Delegation Affairs Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai reports at the session. (Photo: DUY LINH)

The draft Resolution stipulates the procedures for People's Council representatives to conduct online meetings with voters, and meetings with voters in person combined with online meetings, provided that technical conditions, network information security, and cybersecurity are ensured.

Regarding the draft Joint Resolution detailing the interaction between National Assembly deputies and voters, Head of the People's Petition Committee Duong Thanh Binh stated that the draft has added a provision defining the concept of "interaction between National Assembly deputies and voters" to clarify the meaning of this activity.

At the same time, regulations are added regarding the concept of "Voters' Petitions" to distinguish them from complaints, denunciations, and petitions from citizens through citizen reception and handling of letters, which are specifically regulated in the Law on the Organization of the National Assembly, the Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils, the Law on Complaints, the Law on Denunciations, and the Law on Citizen Reception; regarding the concept of "online voter contact" and adding specific regulations on the principles and forms of voter contact.

Regarding the organization of voter outreach, the draft has added regulations on online voter outreach; a combination of in-person and online voter outreach; voter outreach before and after extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly; voter outreach during natural disasters, epidemics, or force majeure events; and the collection and compilation of voter suggestions before and after extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly… aiming to overcome the situation of "electoral college" or "professional voters" or voter outreach that is still "formalistic" or "monotonous".

During the session, the majority of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly agreed on integrating and issuing a joint resolution detailing the procedures for National Assembly deputies and People's Council deputies at all levels to interact with constituents.

According to Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, the two draft resolutions contain many similar provisions and share the same legal basis, namely the Law on the Vietnam Fatherland Front, which assigns detailed regulations. Therefore, merging them helps reduce the number of documents that need to be issued, making it easier to ensure consistency and uniformity.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man delivers a speech. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Speaking at the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said that the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front are very interested in engaging with voters at all four levels: central, provincial, district, and commune.

Agreeing with the issuance of a joint resolution, the Chairman of the National Assembly noted that the resolution should be concise, clear, focused, and prioritized; general provisions should be general, and specific provisions should be specific. At the same time, the submission document should clearly indicate which contents are inherited, which are amended or supplemented, and which are new.

The Chairman of the National Assembly also suggested that attention should be paid to innovating the forms, content, and locations of voter outreach to ensure requirements are met; and to continuing to promote the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels in organizing, presiding over, and managing voter outreach.

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