Special Urban Law: Radical Decentralization for Ho Chi Minh City to Break Through Strongly
The granting of authority to issue documents different from central regulations and pilot mechanisms, the Special Urban Law helps Ho Chi Minh City unclog the legal corridor for development.
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The draft Special Urban Law is expected to create a turning point in institutions, providing a strong development springboard for Ho Chi Minh City. The biggest highlight of this draft is the emphasis on the principle of "comprehensive, thorough" decentralization to thoroughly remove the bottlenecks of the "ask-give" mechanism.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thien Tri, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, expects that Ho Chi Minh City will truly become a special urban area with commensurate autonomy, truly "having the right to decide, to act, and to take responsibility."
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thien Tri, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. Photo: LE THOA
Transfer of All Authority to the Urban Government
. Reporter: The draft Special Urban Law emphasizes the principle of "thorough, comprehensive decentralization" in almost all fields. How should the concept of "thorough" be understood and realized?
- Dr. Nguyen Thi Thien Tri: The draft law's introduction of the principle of "comprehensive, thorough" decentralization is a significant advance compared to the current and previous mechanisms for defining authority.
Comprehensiveness means full decentralization across all sectors and fields, except for those where the central government needs to retain direct decision-making power, as specified in the draft.
Thoroughness means that whatever the special urban area can do should be fully transferred to the urban government; the central government should not retain or participate in decisions or approvals. However, the types of tasks transferred must meet specific criteria to ensure that once delegated to the locality, the central government does not need to intervene frequently through administrative mechanisms.
The criteria include: the tasks arise and need to be resolved within the locality; the urban government has sufficient resources and capacity to handle them; there must be a monitoring mechanism and a clear, transparent mechanism for determining accountability for the urban government.
Determining which tasks to transfer to the urban government should also consider the output of the sector or field to avoid fragmenting management decisions. Additionally, the transfer must be appropriate to the management level of each sector and field, without applying a one-size-fits-all approach across sectors and decision levels.
We must understand that transferring as many tasks as possible is not necessarily more thorough; rather, objectivity and suitability for the urban government, particularly local resources, are key.
. The current draft already includes provisions that grant decision-making authority to the special urban government of Ho Chi Minh City.
- Yes. On one hand, authority is transferred from the central to the special urban government: powers of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee are transferred to the People's Council; powers of the Government are transferred to the People's Committee; powers of the Prime Minister are transferred to the Chairman of the People's Committee. On the other hand, the draft also grants the urban government the authority to issue detailed regulations different from those of the Government and ministries, and to establish pilot mechanisms in cases where the law does not yet provide for them…
These provisions essentially grant considerable power to the urban government compared to the current mechanism, but some mechanisms still require central approval. The "institutional" autonomy for the urban government may still need further central pioneering.
The Special Urban Law helps Ho Chi Minh City become a special urban area with commensurate autonomy, truly "having the right to decide, to act, and to take responsibility." Photo: THUAN VAN
Addressing Two Major Bottlenecks
. As you mentioned, the draft introduces a very new issue: allowing Ho Chi Minh City to issue legal documents different from central documents and to decide on pilot economic models without precedent. Is this a key to completely ending the "ask-give" mechanism?
- These two powers of the urban government help resolve two major bottlenecks that most large cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, face.
The power to issue documents different from central ones will address the biggest bottleneck: the lack of timely regulations from subordinate legal documents (decrees, circulars) or existing regulations that are unsuitable. The power to issue pilot mechanisms will address situations where there is no general law or the general law does not meet the needs of the special urban area.
With the first power, the urban government can only truly be autonomous and eliminate institutional bottlenecks if the legal gap left for detailed regulations is large enough. If the legal gap is insufficient for necessary differences, the second power—issuing pilot mechanisms—must be used. This pilot mechanism allows deviation even from existing laws.
However, the urban government's power to issue pilot mechanisms in the draft is still subject to central permission both during the pilot phase and afterward. Therefore, this point needs to be more decisive to allow the urban government even greater autonomy.
The very nature of the pilot mechanism, the application process, and the public disclosure of pilot results already serve as an effective central monitoring mechanism. If the urban government must once again seek central approval for formal regulations, the risk of an "ask-give" situation may persist.
In the draft Special Urban Law, the central government has transferred proactive decision-making authority to Ho Chi Minh City in many important socio-economic areas.
Clarifying Exemption Criteria to Avoid a "Low-Lying Area"
. Great power comes with great responsibility. The draft clearly defines accountability for public reporting, especially the mechanism for exemption and legal immunity for officials who perform tasks for the common good, without personal gain.
- Delegating authority along with responsibility are two sides of the same coin. The clearer and more transparent the delegation, the more precise the accountability. In fact, most officials are not afraid of responsibility; what is concerning is the lack of transparency in determining responsibility. The crux of the problem lies in an unclear answer to "whose decision-making authority this is." Therefore, clear delineation of authority is a prerequisite for controlling urban government power.
According to the draft, urban power control is exercised through multiple mechanisms. The law specifies what each agency and position in the urban government may and may not do, which is a form of central control over the locality. Additionally, there are mechanisms of approval, permission from the central government; reporting and explanation; inspection and audit; supervision by the People's Council and social organizations; complaint and denunciation mechanisms; and handling of administrative cases by the People's Court under general regulations...
I believe there are many mechanisms, but their effectiveness lies in their substance. The draft still relies on traditional control mechanisms, without the emergence of control mechanisms characteristic of urban government, such as promoting direct control by citizens through direct election of local government heads or referendums.
With the Special Urban Law, for the first time, the central government transfers proactive decision-making authority to the locality in many important socio-economic areas. Therefore, applying some exemption mechanisms is reasonable to encourage and reassure officials in making important decisions.
However, what needs to be clarified—and is also a "gap" that, without detailed regulations and a clear, transparent mechanism, could become a "low-lying area"—is the determination of rather qualitative criteria for exemption, such as no personal gain, motives for the common development of the special urban area...
Ultimately, the most important factor determining the development of a special urban area is not just special institutions but also "special people." Special here means a spirit of initiative, daring to decide, daring to act, daring to take responsibility, and especially having love and attachment to the city.
. Thank you.
Removing Barriers for Substantive Decentralization
To achieve truly thorough and comprehensive decentralization in the transition from an implementation-oriented model to a decision-making model, in my opinion, the method of decentralization should consider removing certain barriers.
For instance, the urban government should be allowed to proactively exercise its authority through a mechanism of full delegation to lower levels, making it the focal point in the decentralization relationship with the central government.
Decentralization should be granted to the entire urban government, not divided by individual agencies or positions as in the draft, to ensure cohesion within the urban government.
Moreover, decentralization by individual agencies and positions, if not interconnected, may easily lead to parochialism; cohesion, consistency, and synchronization in issuance and implementation will face difficulties from within the urban government team. Accountability to the central government and citizens would also be dispersed rather than centralized.
The leadership role of the head of the urban government is not yet emphasized, which is a major limitation for building a proper urban government model. The power to decide after pilot schemes is also an area where authority should be decisively granted to the urban government to create initiative and decision-making power for Ho Chi Minh City…
Dr. NGUYEN THI THIEN TRI
Perspective: Comprehensive Decentralization Means Substantive Transfer of Power to Ho Chi Minh City
The spirit of thorough, comprehensive decentralization in the draft Special Urban Law should be understood as a substantive transfer of state management power from the central government to Ho Chi Minh City in almost all fields.
"Thoroughness" here means a solid legal basis ensuring that Ho Chi Minh City truly holds the right to self-determination, the right to directly organize implementation, accompanied by the responsibility to be fully accountable for issues under its management.
This requires a very clear and transparent delineation of the decentralization mechanism between the central government and Ho Chi Minh City, strengthening the authority and responsibility of leaders in conjunction with a power control mechanism, especially removing bottlenecks in areas such as planning, investment, and socio-economic development.
From a professional perspective, in my opinion, to fully realize this spirit, Ho Chi Minh City must be granted a significantly higher level of autonomy in key areas, including planning, investment, finance-budget, land management, infrastructure development, science and technology, and organizational structure.
Delving into details, the city needs maximum autonomy in management and increased local budget autonomy, boldly developing urban bonds, building a closely linked regional financial mechanism, and moving toward free trade zone models.
The city must also be proactive in deciding mechanisms to mobilize all resources from society, optimize the use of public assets, have breakthrough policies to attract high-quality human resources, and design flexible financial mechanisms tailored to outstanding development characteristics.
For issues inherent to a special urban area, such as large, important, urgent projects, Ho Chi Minh City needs to be legally empowered to make quick and timely decisions through streamlined investment and construction procedures, rather than having to wait for opinions or approval from higher levels under normal mechanisms.
Furthermore, the new legal framework should create an open space for Ho Chi Minh City to proactively design and choose a modern, streamlined governance model that achieves substantive efficiency, commensurate with the scale of a megacity, rapid urbanization, and its role as an economic locomotive.
Looking closely at the provisions of this draft, I am truly impressed with a series of breakthrough mechanisms ready to bypass ordinary legal frameworks. Notably, the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City is granted significantly expanded authority to directly decide on special policies, proactively allocate key resources, and supervise large-scale development programs.
Another strong step is that the People's Council is empowered to decide on the total increase in staff and civil servant quotas by up to 20% beyond the number assigned by central agencies in each period and annually, based on the city's self-balancing local budget to cover costs.
Moreover, the draft grants the city government great initiative in organizing its apparatus. Specifically, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City is allowed to decide on establishing, naming, reorganizing, or dissolving specialized agencies, administrative organizations, and public service units, entirely based on the needs and actual situation of the locality.
This revolutionary mechanism will help the administrative apparatus of Ho Chi Minh City become streamlined, operate smoothly, and more flexibly without being overly constrained by common staffing frameworks.
However, we need to objectively recognize that although the draft Special Urban Law clearly stipulates and opens the way for implementing these superior powers, whether the implementation achieves the expected effect depends heavily on whether Ho Chi Minh City truly dares to apply and strictly adhere to the principle of thorough, comprehensive decentralization at every level.
The success or failure of this mechanism also intimately depends on the mettle and enforcement capacity of the staff and civil servants, along with the necessary establishment of an effective power inspection and supervision mechanism.
If all these prerequisites are successfully implemented synchronously, the Special Urban Law, when officially passed, will certainly become a solid institutional springboard, capable of creating new momentum and propelling Ho Chi Minh City to break through.
Dr. NGUYEN TRAN NHU KHUE, Faculty of Law, Van Lang University
LE THOA
- Special Urban Law
- decentralization
- Nguyen Thi Thien Tri
- thorough
- Ho Chi Minh City
- pilot
- authority
- mechanism
- Ho Chi Minh City University of Law
- delegation
Source PLO: https://plo.vn/luat-do-thi-dac-biet-phan-quyen-triet-de-cho-tphcm-but-pha-manh-me-post911986.html
