Urban government plays an important role in the socio-economic development of a country.

Hanoi authorities are consulting municipalities on piloting a scheme of urban government with two options, in a move to build more efficient and effective governance. 

The first option is to build two levels of government which are city and district levels. Unlike the current model, this plan omits People's Councils in communes, wards and towns, and permits only administrative bodies under the People's Committee.

In the above-mentioned plan, the city government's organization basically includes People's Council and the People's Committee like the current structure. The specialized agencies of the City People's Committee will be decided by the central government.

This option proposes furthering decentralization among the central government, ministries, government agencies and the city, giving more powers to local authority in some basic areas such as planning management, investment, construction management, finance and state budget, land, social culture and so on.

Drafters of this option argue that the decentralization helps Hanoi have the authority, mechanisms and proactiveness to decide on future socio-economic projects.

District and town authorities in the first option also include the People's Council and the People's Committee. However, in order to improve the government’s performance, the project has made some adjustments in the way that the number of delegates in the People's Council is more appropriately arranged, respecting the quality of the delegates, reducing the number of members of the People's Committee participating in the People's Council, thus increasing the full-time members in the People's Council.

Under the plan of the first option, the removal of the People's Council in wards will be implemented in 2021, and will be applied in communes or towns by 2023.

In the second option, the policy of streamlining the administrative apparatus is proposed with the non-existence of the People's Council at districts, towns and communes, wards and townships. In particular, Hanoi will build a model of a city-level organization, an administrative district or town and an administrative agency represented in a commune or ward.

However, the drafting committee said that the disadvantage of this plan is that there will be a great disturbance in the government apparatus at two levels (district, town and commune, ward and township). It is necessary to adjust the issuance for a number of laws and regulations affecting many people who are working.

From the above-mentioned analyses, the drafting committee recommends piloting the first option.

Former Deputy Head of the Economic Commission Nguyen Van Phuc said that urban government can be simply understood as government in urban areas, to distinguish it from traditional rural administration.

Hanoitimes