To have a cumbersome apparatus is to do wrong to the people.

In recent days, the press and media have talked a lot about the statements of General Secretary To Lam. That is, "the cumbersome apparatus is very difficult, it hinders development", "the one-stop shop is still a procedure, still complicated, we have to reform it", "people are already sitting in cars, we still walk"...

The General Secretary's statements have a common denominator: for the people. These are statements about streamlining the apparatus and reforming institutions; about improving the capacity, responsibility, and ethics of cadres and party members; about re-awareness of development practices so as not to be "lulled to sleep" by the victories of the renovation process.

Those statements received a lot of attention and approval. A short video posted on the Hai Duong Newspaper TikTok page quickly had over 1 million views and thousands of interactions. Comments such as "Uncle is so right", "Uncle To Lam's statement is very accurate and realistic", "The highest leader speaks very frankly about the situation", "I like the way you talk"... are numerous.

Why are people so interested in the policy of streamlining the apparatus, staffing, institutional reform, and such not-so-new issues?

From an observer's perspective I see several problems:

The streamlining of the apparatus and staffing has been talked about a lot in the past but not much has been done. The apparatus is still cumbersome, even bloated in some places. The budget is the people's tax money that is costly to maintain the apparatus. The public figure for expenditure has reached 60 - 70%, even if salaries are increased it can reach 80%... While in developed countries, expenditure on the administrative apparatus is only less than 50% of the budget.

Money spent on the costly apparatus is not spent on development, on social security that directly serves the people's lives. Thus, a cumbersome apparatus with many officials is a mistake to the people. Talking a lot and doing little is dogma. Now the head of the Party speaks about the substance, about the problem, so the people are interested, the people see hope. They hope that this time the Party and the State will act quickly and decisively to achieve good results.

Looking at the world, many countries have developed very quickly, far ahead of us, every day there are new scientific and technological achievements that solve problems in national, local, unit, and business administration, serve the lives of individuals, replace humans, or help increase worker productivity.

This year's Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to three American scientists for their research on institutions. Their research compares the development or regression of countries and regions. "Inclusive" institutions create conditions and encourage all people to contribute to economic activities and benefit from the fruits of growth. "Extractive" institutions are designed to exploit resources and seek special privileges for the benefit of a few. Progressive institutions will lead to sustainable development of the country.

Now, General Secretary To Lam has compared Vietnam with the outside, with a broad vision, which brings new hope to the people.

According to the direction of the General Secretary, in the first quarter of 2025, it is necessary to complete the summary of Resolution No. 18 of the 12th Party Central Committee "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently" and report to the Central Committee on the plan to reorganize and perfect the apparatus and political system. The summary of the resolution is the time to thoroughly consider the issues as well as prepare the necessary conditions to implement the streamlining of the apparatus - a new revolution for the country's development.

In recent days, there have been many rumors and discussions on many groups about plans to reorganize the apparatus of the political system, even the immediate merger of many provinces and cities. Most of this information has no source, some of which has been refuted by the authorities, but from a positive perspective, it also helps each cadre and party member to prepare themselves mentally to stay or leave when the revolution to streamline the apparatus takes place.

People hope that streamlining the apparatus will bring them more benefits.