Enhancing the capacity of elected representatives at the grassroots level.

From July 1st, 2025, the People's Councils at the commune level will enter a new phase as the two-tiered local government model officially comes into operation. A series of tasks previously under the authority of the old district level will be transferred to the commune level, along with many additional powers. This requires commune-level People's Council representatives to possess sufficient courage, legal knowledge, and the capacity for more effective decision-making and supervision.

Large workload

Currently, the People's Council at the commune level is entrusted with deciding on nine major groups of tasks and powers, ranging from economics , planning, science and technology to national defense, security, and organizational structure.

For the first time, grassroots elected bodies decided on key issues of the local government apparatus such as: staffing of officials and civil servants, establishment or reorganization, renaming, and dissolution of specialized agencies under the People's Committee at the same level. In the fields of planning and finance, commune-level People's Council representatives directly decided on socio-economic development plans; budget estimates, allocation, and investment policies for programs and projects in the area...

Representatives of the Ea Kao Ward People's Council cast their votes to elect officials at the first session of the Ward People's Council. Photo: Trung Hieu.

In particular, in the context of digital transformation, the People's Council at the commune level has the right to decide on programs and projects related to digital transformation, science and technology development, and the building of a digital government, digital economy, and digital society. This is a completely new field, requiring commune-level representatives to understand data, digitization processes, and system architecture, instead of relying solely on traditional administrative management experience.

The pressure intensifies as the commune-level People's Councils receive a large volume of specialized tasks from the Government's decentralization decrees. Typical examples include Decree No. 125/2025/ND-CP assigning authority to manage and organize national target programs; Decree No. 131/2025/ND-CP granting the power to approve plans for the use of forest environmental service fees and emission reduction mechanisms; and decrees on allocating preferential loan capital for social housing and approving education development plans at all three levels: preschool, primary, and secondary.

Article 13 of the Law on Organization of Local Government also stipulates that the Provincial People's Council can continuously delegate authority to the Commune People's Council, provided that the necessary conditions are met. Thus, the workload of the Commune People's Council will not be fixed but will gradually increase each year. In addition to receiving tasks, the Commune People's Council also has the right to provide feedback, propose adjustments to the delegated authority, and report periodically. This mechanism encourages the Commune People's Council to be more proactive but also creates pressure on the capacity, knowledge, and responsibility of its representatives.

Increased responsibility

Based on the practical experience in Ea Ktur commune, Mr. Nguyen Khanh, Chief of the Party Committee Office and Head of the Economic and Budget Committee of the Ea Ktur Commune People's Council, affirmed: In the two-tiered local government model, the responsibilities of commune-level People's Council representatives are much heavier and higher than before. Currently, decisions on budget and public investment at the commune level are on par with those at the former district level. Therefore, members of the Economic and Budget Committee must have a firm grasp of specialized laws such as the Law on Public Investment and the Law on State Budget in order to carry out the task of reviewing reports and ensuring quality.

The Economic and Budget Committee of the Ea Ktur Commune People's Council supervises the collection, expenditure, and management of funds for schools in the commune.

Increased authority requires representatives to elevate their thinking to truly act as policymakers, capable of analyzing data and possessing a deep understanding of legal regulations.

A notable aspect of the two-tiered local government system is the trend towards streamlining personnel. Sharing his thoughts on the challenge of personnel streamlining and its impact on operational quality in Ea Kao ward, Mr. Dang Gia Duan, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council of the ward, stated: "The pressure to streamline the apparatus places unprecedented responsibilities on elected representatives. In Ea Kao ward, the population has exceeded 57,000 people, but the number of People's Council representatives is only 26. Each representative currently has to shoulder a workload many times greater. This requires each individual to continuously improve their professional capacity and standardize their work handling skills in a professional and systematic manner. In the context of a two-tiered government system, the apparatus must be truly streamlined, but more importantly, the quality of the representatives must be 'excellent' to meet the demands of the current period…"

Lan Anh

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/chinh-polit/202605/nang-cao-nang-luc-dai-bieu-dan-cu-o-co-so-e0d6f50/