Need to agree on time to stop district-level government model

On the afternoon of March 13, the Steering Committee for the implementation of the arrangement and reorganization of administrative units at all levels and the construction of a two-level local government organization model held its first meeting. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, Head of the Steering Committee, chaired the meeting.

At the meeting, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee, announced Decision No. 571/QD-TTg dated March 12, 2025 on the establishment of the Steering Committee to implement the arrangement and reorganization of administrative units at all levels and build a 2-level local government organization model.

Discussing the Steering Committee's action plan, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh said that in the near future, the Law on Organization of Local Government will have to be amended to regulate the organization of two-level local governments, clearly defining the tasks between provincial and sub-provincial governments; issues related to the transition of tasks, powers, and organization of the local government apparatus when rearranging and reorganizing into two levels.

The Ministry of Justice will discuss with the National Assembly agencies whether it is necessary to develop a resolution to handle some issues when reorganizing administrative units similar to Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly.

"The most perfect solution, when arranging the organization of the 2-level local government apparatus, is for ministries to review the contents under their state management authority and propose one law to amend many laws," Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh emphasized, at the same time saying that, "a legal system that always uses resolutions to handle situations is not really good. This is something that must be done in a timely manner."

Sharing the opinion of Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy said that we are regulating according to the 3-level local government model, in which there are specialized fields where district-level authorities have a lot of authority and handle many administrative procedures, such as the land sector.

The plan does not state when the district government model will officially end, after the merger of commune levels or when the provincial level is completed. If it ends on June 30, it is necessary to have a National Assembly Resolution, in which the most urgent and fundamental issues related to people and businesses are addressed.

"Land, social security, education, health care... these issues are under the authority of the district level. In the Land Law, many contents depend on the district level, from planning, district-level land use plans to the first issuance of certificates...

"If we resolve one law amending many laws, we cannot make it in time for the National Assembly session this May," Minister Do Duc Duy stated his opinion.

Minister Do Duc Duy proposed that a resolution of the National Assembly should be issued in May 2025 and the Law should be amended in October 2025: "If this issue is not handled promptly, it will cause great congestion in both social management and socio-economic development.

Once the Central report is completed, it is also necessary to agree on the time to stop the district-level government model so that the Government can take the initiative in developing guiding documents and other accompanying contents."

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Law and Justice Nguyen Phuong Thuy agreed that after the Central Conference, it is necessary to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee a resolution on the arrangement of administrative units to serve as a basis for localities to develop projects and promptly implement the arrangement.

Reducing district-level government and decentralizing more power to commune-level government, in addition to the requirement to increase duties, powers, staff, and civil servants, the requirement for resources is extremely important. If the State Budget Law is not amended to change the allocation norms for government levels, the commune level will not have enough resources to perform assigned tasks. The State Budget Law is a priority that needs to be amended and supplemented immediately, otherwise it will be "stuck".

According to Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thuy, the apparatus has just been arranged horizontally, with basically equal authority. Now that one level of government has been removed, there must be a way to handle the issue of redistributing authority while amending related legal documents.

"Through the recent reorganization, we see that there are contents that need to be regulated more clearly. For example, what documents need to be changed and what documents do not need to be changed, need to be clearly affirmed. It should not be regulated in the direction that if people have a need, they can change," said Ms. Nguyen Phuong Thuy.

Must work hard

Emphasizing that this is a very important matter for the nation and people, a very big, very difficult, and very complicated matter, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that the upcoming workload is very large.

"Tomorrow the Politburo will meet to agree on the policy, then the Government Party Committee will send the project to collect opinions from localities and send it to ministries and branches for comments. It is expected that around mid-April 2025, the Steering Committee will report to the Central Executive Committee," said Minister Tra.

Regarding the reorganization of commune-level administrative units, the Minister of Home Affairs said that the current number is 10,035 units, but the scale will be reorganized to only about 2,000, "almost like a small district".

This is under the authority of the National Assembly Standing Committee and can be done immediately after the Central Executive Committee Conference. After the amended Constitution, amendments and supplements to the Law on Organization of Local Government and related laws come into effect, the activities of district-level local governments will end.

"When we have a full legal basis, which is the amended Constitution, the Law amending and supplementing the Law on Organization of Local Government, especially the Resolution, we will focus on arranging and merging provincial-level administrative units... Then we will carry out the work related to the congress," the Minister of Home Affairs informed.

Concluding the meeting, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh stated that this is a very important matter, related to the nation, the people, and the effective organization of the apparatus. The work is very large and complicated, requiring completion with high quality but in a very urgent time frame.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and members of the Steering Committee to promote a sense of responsibility, fully participate in meetings, carefully study documents, and contribute to the Steering Committee to complete assigned tasks.

"Although the Steering Committee only exists for a few months, we must work hard and with high quality," the Deputy Prime Minister stated, requesting ministries and branches to fulfill their functions and tasks well.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to absorb the opinions at the meeting to complete the plan.

"Regarding progress, organizational structure, functions and tasks... tomorrow, the Politburo will decide and make an announcement.

In the project submitted by the Government, about 1/3 of the tasks of the district are transferred to the province, 2/3 are transferred to the commune - to the grassroots level. Next week, the Politburo will seek opinions from all party organizations, ministries, branches, and localities," said the Deputy Prime Minister, at the same time assigning specific tasks to a number of ministries and branches, requesting agencies, the Procuracy, and the Court to proactively propose tasks related to procedural order and jurisdiction.