Concerns about conflicts of interest when officials have one foot inside and one foot outside

On the morning of October 22, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law on Civil Servants (amended). Many National Assembly deputies gave their opinions on issues that civil servants across the country are currently concerned about.

The delegation of the National Assembly of Ho Chi Minh City discussed in groups on the morning of October 22. Photo: QUANG PHUC

Need to be clear about criteria, procedures, and authority to approve overtime work of civil servants

Discussing in groups about the draft Law on Public Employees (amended), opinions were most interested in the provisions: public employees are allowed to sign contracts to perform professional activities at public service units other than the public service unit they are currently working for or at other non-public agencies, organizations, and units; public employees working in public science and technology organizations and public higher education institutions are allowed to contribute capital, participate in the management and operation of enterprises, work at enterprises established by such organizations or participate in the establishment to commercialize research results created by such organizations with the consent of the head of the organization.

Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan. Photo: QUANG PHUC

Deputy Pham Khanh Phong Lan (HCMC) wondered if a hospital employee working in conjunction with another private hospital would be at risk of luring patients, and if it were a hospital leader, the possibility would be even greater. Doing so would certainly involve luring patients, and even luring staff. "Perhaps we should do that when we retire. Therefore, we need to consider the conflict of public and private interests," the deputy said.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong ( Quang Tri ) also expressed his opinion that this is a necessary new point but can easily lead to conflicts of interest. "I propose to clearly define the mechanism for declaration, approval and list of prohibited locations, and at the same time define the responsibility of the head in controlling and handling violations," said Mr. Ha Sy Dong.

Sharing the same concern, Deputy Huynh Thi Anh Suong (Quang Ngai) emphasized that allowing civil servants to contribute capital and participate in business management is an open step, encouraging creativity and taking advantage of the capacity and intelligence of civil servants, but it is necessary to have specific regulations, which can be stipulated in principle in the law and clearly stated in the guiding decree.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong (Quang Tri). Photo: PHAN THAO

Making specific recommendations, Deputy Ha Sy Dong proposed clearly defining criteria, procedures and approval authority for off-hours professional activities of civil servants; having a list of absolutely prohibited positions to prevent conflicts of interest; adding a mechanism to protect officials who dare to innovate and take responsibility in the public sector; and having clear guidelines on criteria and authority to consider exemption and reduction of responsibility.

Delegate Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran (HCMC). Photo: QUANG PHUC

Proposal to recognize officials in press agencies

Delegate Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran (HCMC) is concerned about ensuring the rights and promoting the role of journalists in public press agencies. According to the delegate, currently, self-financed public press agencies are classified as public service units, but their employees are not yet recognized as civil servants. This leads to unfairness compared to other fields such as education and health, while the press also performs specific public service functions.

Therefore, the delegate proposed to add a regulation: reporters, editors, technicians, staff... in public press agencies are civil servants, recruited according to job positions, through examination or special contracts for talents.

The delegate also proposed a mechanism to convert long-term labor contracts into civil servants for those who have worked stably (for 5 years or more) and meet the standards; adding regulations to protect civil servants when unilaterally terminating the contract because the autonomous unit no longer has enough finances - to avoid the risk of "massive dismissal" in difficult units.

Delegate Tran Thi Dieu Thuy (HCMC) also pointed out the recent reality that there are people who have worked for a long time but are not civil servants, so when they retire, they do not have the regime according to Decree 178/2024/ND-CP (on policies and regimes for cadres, civil servants, public employees, workers and armed forces in the implementation of organizational restructuring), which is very disadvantageous. Therefore, the Delegate proposed that the regulations on job positions should have specific provisions so that temporary workers can be civil servants, ensuring that they are not disadvantaged.

Delegate Do Duc Hien (HCMC) supports the very new point that management, salary payment, and recruitment will be based on job positions. However, building job positions is very difficult, and if not done well, it will be a formality. Therefore, the Government, ministries, and branches need to pay attention to building a truly scientific job position system, ensuring that by 2028, we will have a complete job position system.

Delegate Ha Sy Dong noted the transitional regulations. Accordingly, by July 1, 2027, if agencies and units have not yet completed the job placement and the construction of a new salary scale, they must report to the competent authority and have a clear roadmap for resolution.

Delegate Pham Trong Nhan (HCMC). Photo: QUANG PHUC

Evaluation of civil servants must be practical.

Deputy Pham Trong Nhan (HCMC) said that the work of evaluating civil servants needs to be closer. The salary policy needs to be implemented in accordance with Resolution 27-NQ/TW (on salary policy reform), that is, ensuring the job position, correctly evaluating the contributions of civil servants, avoiding equalization. At the same time, there needs to be a connection between the public and private sectors. If there is a good mechanism, good cadres will be attracted from the private sector to the public sector, and vice versa when they leave the public sector to start a business. If they want to return, civil servants still have the opportunity to return to the public sector.

Regarding the evaluation of civil servants, Deputy Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) agreed and highly appreciated the provisions in the draft in the direction of simplifying procedures. “According to the old regulations, there must be many meetings with many participants, but it is still formal, “peace is precious”, give and take, like “if you evaluate me well, I will evaluate you well”. Therefore, it is correct to give the authority to the head of the agency or organization to evaluate civil servants under their management, but it is linked to the job position and KPI”, Deputy Pham Van Hoa commented.

Delegate Ha Duc Minh (Lao Cai). Photo: DO TRUNG

Delegate Ha Duc Minh (Lao Cai) said that the draft stipulates priority in recruitment for people with revolutionary contributions, ethnic minorities, officers, demobilized professional soldiers and other policy beneficiaries according to the provisions of law.

Although this is a suitable and necessary regulation, according to the delegate, the form and level of priority have not been specifically determined, which may lead to inconsistent application, with some places only giving priority in admission, while others add points or consider special circumstances...

PHAN THAO - ANH THU - DO TRUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/lo-xung-dot-loi-ich-khi-vien-chuc-chan-trong-chan-ngoai-post819309.html