Operating two-level local government: Aspiration for innovation for the people

The implementation of two-level local government demonstrates the political determination of the Party and State in reorganizing the entire administrative institution from the central to the grassroots level, creating a modern, effective and efficient public administration for the goal of developing a prosperous and happy country.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Phuc attended the ceremony to announce the Resolution and Decision of the Central and local governments on merging provincial and commune-level administrative units, ending the operation of district-level administrative units, establishing party organizations, appointing Party committees, People's Councils, People's Committees, and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees of provinces, communes, and wards in Dak Lak province, on June 30. (Source: NVCC)

From July 1, the two-level local government officially came into operation nationwide, marking an important turning point in the process of institutional reform and reorganization of the State apparatus from the central to the grassroots level. This is not only a change in the administrative structure, but also a moment of "rebuilding the country", demonstrating the political determination of the Party and State in reorganizing the entire administrative institutions from the central to the grassroots level, creating a modern, effective and efficient public administration for the goal of developing a prosperous and happy country.

Meeting the new requirements of the age of technology and integration

The implementation of two-level local government at the present time is completely appropriate, based on solid theoretical foundations and mature practice.

Firstly , after the reform of streamlining the administrative apparatus at the central level has basically been completed, continuing reform at the local level is an inevitable requirement to ensure synchronization and unity in the state administrative system.

Second , the policy of reorganizing local government according to a two-level model received high consensus from cadres, party members and people, which is a solid premise for the implementation process.

Third, after nearly 40 years of innovation, the country has accumulated new positions and strengths, with sufficient conditions in all aspects to implement this model, from the level of socio -economic development to the management capacity of the staff.

Fourth , in the context of the country entering a new development period with the aspiration of "a strong Vietnam by 2045", reorganizing local governments is an inevitable requirement to establish a creative, modern, people-friendly and better-serving administration.

Fifth , along with the process of national digital transformation, development of digital economy, digital society, digital citizens, the two-level local government model is a suitable administrative structure to effectively meet the new requirements of the technology and integration era.

People and businesses are the center

As General Secretary To Lam affirmed at the Ceremony to announce the Resolution and Decision of the Central and local governments on merging provincial and commune-level administrative units, ending the operation of district-level administrative units, establishing party organizations, appointing Party committees, People's Councils, People's Committees, and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees of Ho Chi Minh City, communes, wards, and special zones on June 30: "This is not only an administrative event, but also a strategic turning point, an inevitable objective requirement of the people and the country in the journey to build dynamic development zones of the country and the region."

The profound nature of this reform is not simply a change in administrative organization but a strong shift in the thinking of organizing State power: from an administrative management government model to a creative government model. The new model emphasizes the principle of "taking people and businesses as the center"; promoting the people's mastery; enhancing accountability and transparency; realizing the motto "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit". At the same time, the two-level local government model creates favorable conditions for more extensive decentralization and delegation of power, in accordance with the spirit of "locality decides, locality does, locality is responsible".

The operation of the two-level local government model also poses many challenges in the initial stage. That is the confusion in implementation, especially in localities with large areas, unfavorable natural conditions, and difficult transportation. In remote areas, where development conditions are uneven and the people's educational level is low, the new model requires higher leadership and management capacity from local cadres - which, if not carefully prepared, can cause gaps in direction and operation, even affecting political and social stability and national defense and security. Especially, in places where the Party organization and grassroots government are not really strong, the risk of being exploited by hostile forces cannot be ignored.

However, the two-tier local government model also opens up many positive prospects. From now on, decisions from the provincial level will be transmitted directly to the commune level – the level closest to the people, the one that understands the people best – where specific issues such as land, household registration, social security, etc. are directly handled. This will shorten the time to handle administrative procedures, improve service quality and satisfaction of people and businesses.

The key factor determining the success of the two-level local government model is the cadre team. As President Ho Chi Minh once advised: "Cadres are the root of all work". In the new context, the cadre team, civil servants, and public employees, especially at the commune level, need to be trained in creative thinking, service attitude, situation handling skills , sense of responsibility, and public service ethics. It is necessary to strongly shift from " management " thinking to "service" thinking, taking people's satisfaction as a measure of public service performance.

Particularly, in the period of restructuring the administrative space after mergers and consolidations, the need to strengthen solidarity and unity within the Party and within the political system becomes even more urgent. Solidarity, according to Ho Chi Minh's thought, is the source of strength; it is the decisive factor for the success of all reforms. Solidarity to work towards the common interests of the nation and people; solidarity to overcome differences in administrative boundaries and regional customs and together build a government for the people, by the people and serving the people.

Cao Bang Provincial Public Administration Service Center. (Source: VGP)

Grassroots leadership team: Young, qualified and innovative

Recently, localities across the country have simultaneously announced personnel decisions for new commune and ward leaders after merging commune-level administrative units, including many people from the 8X and 9X generations. Many localities across the country, including Hanoi city, have appointed many young cadres as commune and ward leaders. In the capital's 126 new communes and wards, there are two 38-year-old commune secretaries, both born in 1987; in addition, there are young commune vice chairmen born in 1990.

In practice, in the first days of implementing the two-level local government, people and businesses were very satisfied with the new government model, especially satisfied with the young cadres in communes and wards in general and in Hanoi city in particular. Because this young cadre quickly approached digital technology - identified as the foundation for implementing the two-level local government, thereby improving the quality of service to the people.

With larger communes and wards and larger populations, the need to serve people and businesses needs to be more urgent and professional. In response to these demands, a team of young, well-trained and experienced staff with the advantage of good digital technology can serve people faster, more promptly and effectively.

People also expect that in the new era , the era of national development, the young leadership team will meet the requirements of national development in general and of the locality in particular. The 8X secretaries are not only young in age, strength, and intelligence, but also young in thinking and action; resolute, decisive, daring to think, daring to do, daring to take responsibility for the common good.

Currently, there are also many young leaders in the world holding important positions. The current age of commune and ward leaders ranges from 35-40 years old, which is a mature age, with enough capacity and qualifications to run a new commune or ward with a larger area , a larger population and more demands from people and businesses, meeting the demands of people and businesses in the digital environment as well as leading the locality into a new reform phase of the country.

Implementing the organizational restructuring revolution, of the more than 600 tasks performed by the district level, over 90 tasks have been transferred to the province, the remaining more than 500 tasks have been assigned to the commune level. This shows that the responsibility of the commune level government is very large, so the new commune and ward levels now have very heavy functions and tasks. Basically, the functions and tasks of the district and ward levels in the past have been largely transferred to the commune and ward levels.

To meet the requirements in the current development stage, it is required that the team of commune-level cadres, especially key cadres, in addition to strong political qualities, ethics, and clean lifestyle, must also attach importance to qualifications and capacity to meet the requirements of the task. This level of capacity must meet the fast-moving, frequently changing situations in the commune and ward areas and must regularly update information and new documents on the national data platform to meet the requirements and demands of people and businesses. Along with that, administrative procedures must be processed quickly, publicly, and transparently on the digital technology platform.

Therefore, the requirement for the team of communal-level cadres and civil servants, especially young leaders, in addition to the capacity and expertise as before, also requires the ability to handle work quickly, impartially, objectively, transparently, and how to resolve administrative procedures and people's needs in all aspects of social life.

In addition to the requirement of publicity and transparency, there must be accountability. Because the time limit for handling administrative procedures is very short, it requires young officials with higher intensity and more scientific work handling skills. Moreover, the satisfaction of people and businesses must be used as a measure of the effectiveness of officials' work.

The Law on Cadres and Civil Servants has been passed by the National Assembly with many new points such as classifying the quality of civil servants based on regular, continuous, multi-dimensional, quantitative monitoring and evaluation using specific criteria linked to progress, quantity, quality of results and products according to job positions (KPI). Using the evaluation results to implement rewards, additional income regimes, bonuses or considering placement in lower job positions or dismissal to screen out those who do not meet the requirements of the task from the apparatus...

In the spirit of "in and out, up and down", this is a very high requirement, and at the same time a great pressure on cadres and civil servants, especially key cadres in communes and wards - places very close to people and businesses to resolve daily problems and procedures.

Therefore, the new regulations in the law are both pressure and encouragement for officials, especially young officials, to work more effectively and dynamically, to find the best way to meet the requirements of the people and businesses. This is also a very good opportunity to select competent and qualified officials in the apparatus, and at the same time eliminate the situation of officials that we often say "go to work in the morning with an umbrella, come home with an umbrella at night", working half-heartedly, depending on the situation.

The new provisions in the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants that have been promulgated will stimulate and motivate cadres and civil servants, especially commune and ward cadres and civil servants, to work better, more effectively, more dynamically and to fulfill their assigned tasks well.

The profound nature of this reform is not simply a change in administrative organization but a strong shift in the thinking of organizing State power: from an administrative management government model to a creative government model. The new model emphasizes the principle of "taking people and businesses as the center"; promoting the people's mastery; enhancing accountability and transparency; realizing the motto "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise, people benefit". At the same time, the two-level local government model creates favorable conditions for more extensive decentralization and delegation of power, in accordance with the spirit of "locality decides, locality does, locality is responsible".

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/van-hanh-chinh-quyen-dia-phuong-hai-cap-khat-vong-doi-moi-vi-dan-330240.html