After the merger, avoid turning public assets into private ones, 'no one cries for public property'

The upcoming revolution to streamline the apparatus of the political system poses a huge amount of work to be done. One of them is to overcome the situation where after the merger, some localities wasted and lost land and public assets because “no one cares about public property”.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Phuc, former Editor-in-Chief of Communist Magazine, shared with VietNamNet about the solutions that need to be implemented to prevent waste and loss of land and public assets after the merger.

Forming new provinces and new communes has much greater power.

According to the Central Government's policy, the number of provincial-level administrative units in our country after the reorganization will be reduced from 63 to 34, there will be no district-level organization and there will be only about 3,320 communes and wards merged. This is an unprecedented revolution. How do you personally evaluate this reorganization in the overall revolution of streamlining the apparatus of the political system, so that the country can enter a new era?

The local government system in our country has been merged, consolidated, and separated many times, but this time is considered an unprecedented revolution.

Because first, it is implemented at the same time at the provincial, district and communal levels. Second, for the first time in history, our country has abolished the district level and implemented a two-level local government: provincial and communal levels.

Third, for the first time, both provincial and communal levels were merged and consolidated at the same time. Fourth, the merger and consolidation of provincial and communal levels, and the abolition of district levels, was carried out in a very short time, in the context of the Party Congresses at all levels leading up to the 14th National Party Congress.

Fifth, the merger and consolidation of provincial and communal levels is placed within the overall revolution of streamlining the organizational apparatus of the political system.

According to the Central Government's policy, after the merger and consolidation, the number of focal provincial units will be reduced from 63 to 34, with a staff reduction of 18,440, the number of focal commune units will be reduced from 10,035 to more than 3,320 units (equivalent to 66.91%), with a staff reduction of 110,780...

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Phuc, former Editor-in-Chief of Communist Magazine. Photo: Tran Thuong

Thus, after the revolution in streamlining the organizational apparatus, the political system in our country from the central to the communal level has reduced the number of focal points and is very streamlined; at the same time, it has screened and streamlined the team of cadres, civil servants and public employees.

This is a very important premise, an extremely necessary condition for the organization, staff, civil servants and public employees for our country to enter the era of national growth...

The Central Government's policy on the arrangement of provincial administrative units emphasizes the principle of not simply mechanical addition, but must create outstanding development, as General Secretary To Lam noted, "2 plus 2 is greater than 4". What do you expect from this consistent viewpoint?

The policy and principle of the Central Committee is to arrange and streamline the organization of the political system in general. The merger and consolidation of provincial and communal levels is not a mechanical merger and consolidation; it is not simply a reduction in the number of provincial and communal levels, but must form new provinces and new communes with much greater strength than the combined strength of the provinces and communes.

After the merger and consolidation to form a new province and new commune, it is necessary to create a new development space, higher conditions for new development resources, better service for the people, and improve the material and spiritual life of the people...

This is completely true to the theory of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thought on cooperation: cooperation will create a combined strength greater than the combined strength of its members. This is also completely consistent with reality: each province currently has its strengths and advantages, but lacks other strengths and advantages.

After merging and consolidating into new provinces and communes, the strengths and comparative advantages will complement each other, support each other, create foundations and premises for each other to develop together, creating greater combined strength and greater synergy. Therefore, 2 plus 2 will be many times greater than 4...

What do you think about the direction of General Secretary To Lam: “In the process of merging provinces, it is necessary to ensure public land and property management in a public, transparent and professional manner. Special attention should be paid to areas with great development potential, in order to avoid loss, waste and group interests”?

The General Secretary's directive is very correct and timely to ensure that public land and assets are not lost or wasted before, during and after the merger and consolidation at the provincial and communal levels. This directive aims to correct and overcome the negative aspects that may occur, such as many people taking advantage of the merger and consolidation to make profits, turning public land and assets into private land and assets, or interest groups dividing public land and assets before the merger and consolidation.

The General Secretary's guiding viewpoint also aims to overcome the reality that when merging and consolidating, some localities waste and lose land and public assets due to the situation of "no one cries for the common father".

Due to the upcoming merger and consolidation, officials and civil servants are irresponsible and lax in management. There are also cases where officials and civil servants are worried about their job positions after the merger and consolidation, so they are negligent and irresponsible in their work...

"After the merger, the provincial and communal levels must form new provinces and communes with much greater strength than the combined strength of the provinces and communes," Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Phuc emphasized. Illustration photo: Le Anh Dung

Therefore, in the process of merger and consolidation, it is necessary to ensure public land and property management in a public, transparent and professional manner; paying special attention to areas with great development potential, in order to avoid loss, waste and group interests.

8 things to do right now

The requirement after the merger is to organize a streamlined, efficient, effective, modern government apparatus, imbued with the motto "of the people, by the people, for the people", to meet the increasingly high demands of the people in the new development context. What is the solution to meet the requirements?

To achieve such high goals and requirements, it is necessary to implement many solutions synchronously.

Firstly, strengthen in-depth propaganda with convincing grounds to create high unity within the Party and high consensus among the people.

Second, prepare well both documents and personnel to successfully organize the Party Congresses at the commune and provincial levels in accordance with the direction in Directive No. 45-CT/TW dated April 14, 2025 of the Politburo on Party Congresses at all levels towards the 14th National Party Congress.

Third, screening, selecting, and arranging a team of provincial and communal-level cadres, especially leaders, who are truly dedicated, have vision, have good political qualities, are steadfast in their ideological stance, and do not waver in any situation. Cadres must have good moral qualities, a pure lifestyle, be selfless, put the common interests of the Party, the nation, and the people above all else, and first and foremost, wholeheartedly serve the Fatherland and the people.

Cadres must truly have the capacity and qualifications to meet the increasingly high and heavy requirements and tasks of the new development period, as the country enters a new era. Selected cadres must truly have prestige in the Party and among the people; truly dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate, create, make breakthroughs, take responsibility for the common good and not be local, factional, or have group interests...

Fourth, the new province and commune after the merger must come into operation immediately, without interruption in serving the people, businesses, etc., ensuring that all activities of the Party, State and society take place normally, smoothly, with better quality and efficiency, closer to the people, and better serving the people.

Fifth, improve the leadership, governance and fighting capacity of Party organizations, Party committees at all levels, and of all cadres and Party members to build a truly clean, strong, ethical and civilized Party.

Sixth, enhance the Party's character in building a socialist rule-of-law state, and make the operations of government apparatus at all levels truly effective, efficient, and productive.

Seventh, truly respect and promote the people's right to mastery, the people are the masters, the people are the root of all decisions to develop the country and locality.

Eighth, have a satisfactory compensation policy to retain talented people, good workers and people affected by the restructuring and streamlining of the apparatus...

Vietnamnet.vn

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