NA approves law on grassroots democracy

The Standing Committee yesterday spent the whole morning discussing the draft ordinance, presented by Minister of Home Affairs Do Quang Trung.

Trung said o­ne of the objectives of the ordinance was to overcome regression, red tape and corruption, and continue the work of an eight-year-old decree o­n enhancing grass roots democracy.

"The grass roots democracy regulations issued by the government eight years ago have breathed new life into the nation’s politics and society," Trung said.

He said Decree 29/CP o­n grass roots democracy has helped raise the people’s awareness o­n their democratic rights.

However, Trung said, the regulations had not been taken seriously in some localities. Some of the rules contained in the regulations were no longer appropriate and their effectiveness was poor.

All these factors had limited the impact of the regulations o­n the practice of democratic rights, Trung said.

"That’s why it is necessary to raise the decree to the level of an ordinance," said Trung.

The drafting committee has developed the ordinance according to the tenet of " the Party leads, the State manages and the people are the masters," Trung said.

An appraisal report by the Law Committee presented by its Director Vu Duc Khien said that the majority of the committee members supported the issuance of the ordinance that aimed to inform the public o­n the activities of government bodies.

Khien said the ordinance would enable people to better monitor the government’s performance.

Speaking at the meeting, NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Yeu asked the drafting committee to further explain Article 18 o­n holding votes of confidence for some key positions at grass roots administrations, as this provision was contrary to the Law of the People’s Council and People’s Committee as well as actual practice.

The Executive Committee of the Law Committee asked the drafting committee to remove Article 3 o­n "objectives of implementing democracy in communes" as the matter was already covered in other parts of the ordinance. The committee also asked for the removal of Article 24 o­n public awards as this content has already been covered in the ordinance o­n emulation and awards.

The Ordinance has eight chapters and 26 articles.

VNS