On May 23, more than 69 million voters across the country exercised the right to elect deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term.

One of the issues that voters were most concerned about is how to choose people who typify virtue and talent, and are worthy of representing the will, aspiration and mastery of the people. How can voters monitor and evaluate the delegates they voted for?

A voter reads bios of candidates before election day in HCMC. Photo: Thanh Tung

By their vote, constituents give their state power to the people they trust. In other words, elections are essentially the transfer of state power from the people to the State, the first step in the process of monitoring and controlling state power and limiting the corruption of state power.

National Assembly delegates are the representatives of the will and aspirations of the people, are accountable to the voters, and at the same time are responsible to the National Assembly for the performance of their duties to voters’ supervision.

In fact, voters' supervision of National Assembly deputies is carried out mainly through meetings between delegates and voters. Accordingly, National Assembly deputies must learn the thoughts and aspirations of voters, collect and honestly reflect voters’ opinions to the National Assembly and relevant state agencies; and at the same time report to voters on their activities and the activities of the National Assembly.

Temperature measurement for voters in Huong Viet commune, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province. Photo: Phan Vinh

In principle, National Assembly deputies must report to voters on the performance of their delegate duties at least once a year. On their side, voters can directly or through the Vietnam Fatherland Front ask the National Assembly deputies to report on their work and can comment on the performance of tasks of the National Assembly deputies. According to regulations, answering the requests and recommendations of voters is one of the responsibilities of the National Assembly deputies.

Political commitments of candidates

Over the years, the activities of the National Assembly and the National Assembly deputies have made positive changes, which have attracted the attention of a large number of voters. However, besides the National Assembly deputies who fulfilled their assigned responsibilities and duties well and kept their promises during the electoral campaign, there are still many National Assembly deputies who have performed their role poorly and have not met the voters' expectations.

Those who are interested in the National Assembly’s activities can easily see that few deputies regularly participate in questioning, debating, and commenting activities. Many National Assembly deputies have gone through their entire term without leaving any impression.

So how can voters effectively monitor the performance of members of the National Assembly, whom they have trusted to choose to entrust state power and represent them to participate in the highest state power agency?

Bringing a ballot box to a quarantine center in Bac Ninh province. Photo: Vu Diep

If it is done only through voter meetings or reports, voters will find it difficult to assess the level of fulfillment of the responsibilities and duties as well as the level of performance of action programs of National Assembly deputies. The action programs of many candidates are very general, stereotypical, clichéd and are difficult to assess.

Action plans

Therefore, in order to have a basis to evaluate the results of the performance of duties and responsibilities of National Assembly delegates, it is necessary to change the way candidates develop their action plans.

It should be emphasized that the action plan is not only aimed at persuading voters to vote, but it is also an activity orientation and a guideline for action throughout the entire period of a member of the National Assembly in the future. It is not just a promise to voters but also the political commitment of the candidate.

First of all, the action plan must adhere to the rights and responsibilities of National Assembly deputies according to the law; it should be highly feasible, suitable to practical conditions, with the candidate's capacity, qualifications and expertise. The action plan should briefly and clearly state the goals, actions and results to be achieved associated with each specific action.

The content of the action plan needs to show voters clearly what specific actions the candidate will take, with what solutions, and what results will be achieved.

Interaction with voters

On that basis, the elected member of the National Assembly must regularly inform voters about the things they have done and the results achieved. In addition to direct contact with voters, National Assembly deputies should increase their interaction with voters through the use of technology and social media.

In this way, National Assembly deputies will more easily and quickly grasp the thoughts and aspirations of voters and shorten the distance with them.

The National Assembly should also study and develop a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for National Assembly deputies.

Based on the responsibilities, tasks and action plans of each member of the National Assembly, the KPIs sould include qualitative values (based on feelings, personal opinions) and quantitative values (measured by specific numbers).

Every year, KPIs will be used to evaluate the performance of each member of the National Assembly in a transparent and public manner. This approach both motivates and puts pressure on National Assembly deputies to constantly strive to fulfill their responsibilities, tasks and political commitments (action plan) in the best way.

In business, KPI is one of a number of modern and effective tools to help managers use leadership strategies for specific management goals and action plans for each department and individual.

KPIs can be used as a tool for voters to monitor and evaluate the performance of National Assembly deputies, whom they have trusted and delegated state power by ballot.

Doan Huu Tue

Pictures of the election day

This morning, more than 69 million voters across the country went to polling stations in 84,767 constituencies to select deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term.