Fear of losing votes, risk of losing 'seat'

On the morning of December 1, General Secretary To Lam raised two big questions and two definitive answers. Do we have enough power, strength, will and determination to enter a new era, an era of national development and prosperity? The answer is: Enough. Is now the time, the opportunity, the urgency, the objective necessity of the revolution to streamline the apparatus of the political system so that the apparatus can operate effectively and efficiently? The answer is: There can be no more delay.

A large-scale restructuring, streamlining of the apparatus, and staff reduction is about to take place.

"Hai Duong will strictly implement the central government's directives, only discuss action, not retreat," said comrade Tran Duc Thang, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee shortly afterwards. The apparatus will be reorganized, the number of contacts will be reduced, the structure will also change, many people will have to move to other jobs. Before the congress, we must select good, capable, and worthy cadres who dare to work for the people and the province.

Many people are pondering the saying “evaluating cadres is a process”, and now they understand it. A leader without practical achievements, an agency or locality that does not develop, or even falls behind, has stagnant work, and lacks internal unity cannot be a person of good capacity. Not to mention that the new apparatus after the merger must handle work more scientifically, manage a team of selected cadres, and cannot be handed over to cadres who “re-appoint every time”.

The restructuring of the apparatus will inevitably go hand in hand with streamlining the payroll and restructuring the staff with the spirit of not letting state agencies be a “safe haven” for incompetent staff. There will be a purge of civil servants and public employees. Here, the clarity and impartiality of the leadership, especially the head, is very necessary. The Party and the State will certainly have appropriate policies for redundant staff. It may take more time to handle them, but inevitably, those who are incompetent, corrupt, harass people and businesses, ask for opinions in circles, and blame the mechanism should not be left in the system.

The revolution to streamline the apparatus must retain and promote good and talented people. Only then will it be successful.

There will be people who do not dare to streamline the apparatus, do not dare to reduce staff because they are afraid of conflicts. Because the time to implement the streamlining of the apparatus coincides with the time to prepare for Party Congresses at all levels, General Secretary To Lam warned about the situation where cadres do not dare to do it, are defensive, keep themselves, do not want to conflict because they are afraid of losing votes... While many things have to be done at once, the apparatus must be neat to organize the congress and the new apparatus must be better than the old one, must operate immediately.

Faced with these issues, Hai Duong Provincial Party Secretary Tran Duc Thang expressed his opinion: If those officials do not dare to act for the common good, they will lose their prestige first. If they are afraid of losing votes, they will lose their prestige and risk losing their "seat" first.

The Central Government has a very clear roadmap for streamlining the apparatus. After the Central Government, it will be the local governments, which will do it quickly and synchronously. The plans to merge, reorganize, and terminate the operations of many sectors and agencies have been made. The Central Government will calculate thoroughly, and have specific mechanisms and policies. When implementing, there will be no ministries at the top, and no departments at the provinces. The same goes for lower levels...

The revolution of streamlining the apparatus of the political system to make it operate effectively and efficiently is both the content and the solution for the country to enter a new era, an era of striving to develop richly and strongly. The 13th Party Congress set the goal of developing the country until 2045, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: To become a developed, high-income country.

There will be a lot of work to do, we must clear the apparatus, create a development environment to mobilize people's strength, so that people can expand their businesses. Everyone, all levels, sectors, units, and businesses must think, boldly innovate, make breakthroughs, and even accept sacrificing personal interests for the development of the homeland and the country.