On the occasion of amending the Constitution, Vietnam should carry out some reforms, such as allowing the people to directly elect the President and combining the Party General Secretary and the President into one position.

While Article 4 on the role and leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the draft amendments to the Constitution is being widely discussed, the building of the law on the party must be promoted.

Why not prescribe the compulsory procedures on the people’s review of the draft Constitution to confirm whether the content of the Constitution actually expresses the general will of the people or not …

Making comment on the draft amendments to the Constitution, social organizations proposed to establish the National Commission on Human Rights, as a constitutional institution next to the Constitutional Council and the State Audit Agency.

Many experts have suggested narrowing the powers of the National Assembly Standing Committee in order to avoid the situation in which the National Assembly is “neutralized.”

Amending the 1992 Constitution is an opportunity for the Communist Party of Vietnam’s innovation to ensure its leadership, said a senior scholar of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration.

VietNamNet Bridge – The role and the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam must be constitutionalized and is suitable with the people’s will and aspiration.

VietNamNet Bridge - According to Deputy Minister of Justice - Hoang The Lien, the Constitution must have long-term viability so only ripe issues will be fixed, the rest will be adjusted by bills.

Many people say that let the people decide the Constitution and here the Party lets the people make comments. So they will decide this Constitution, confirmed National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

"Vietnam’s sovereignty over the sea and the islands, especially the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos must be powerfully shown in the Constitution," said Mr. Tran Ngoc Dinh, from the Hanoi Law University.

The Constitutional Council should be renamed into the Constitutional Court and it must have the right to make decision, not only give general recommendations, members of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front suggested.

On February 19, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front held a conference to collect opinions on the draft amended Constitution. Many delegated focused analysis of Article 4 of the Constitution.

"A ruling party should accept competition or accept the self-discipline to become more mature, cleaner and stronger," said former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office Tran Quoc Thuan.

Overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs and intellectuals who returned home to attend the conference of the Vietnam Fatherland Front last week expected that the Constitution more strongly protect their freedom of business and research in Vietnam.

National Assembly deputy Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy of Da Nang city proposed the draft amendments to the Constitution, which after being passed by the National Assembly must go through a referendum before it takes effect.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many National Assembly deputies said that amending the Constitution this time is a precious opportunity to more strongly assert the country’s sovereignty.