After 25-days’ sitting, the National Assembly completed the busy working agenda set for its 7th session, demonstrating that the most powerful State body and elected deputies are putting their responsibilities towards the voters and the people into action.  

Since the beginning of this year, the national economy has kept pace with the steady economic recovery and achieved encouraging results. Economic growth in the first four months almost doubled the figure recorded a year earlier. Budget revenue was higher than in the same period of the previous years; the social welfare of the people was ensured and social infrastructure was improved.

However, NA deputies pointed out challenges facing Vietnam in the second half of this year, including low economic growth, threats to macro-balances, and a high consumer price index. They asked the government to come up with effective remedies to overcome such weaknesses and meet the socio-economic development targets for 2010 and the 2006-2010 period.

The NA approved 10 bills, including those on the State bank of Vietnam, credit organisations, the non-agricultural land use tax, child adoption, energy conservation, people with disabilities, post, trade arbitration, and food safety. The approval of these bills was a step toward meeting the country’s requirements during international integration.

The NA urged the government and relevant agencies to issue documents guiding the implementation of these bills while enhancing the dissemination of information to bring the bills to life. NA bodies performed their supervisory role better and worked more closely with the government and relevant agencies to speed up legislation and improve the quality of bills before being submitted.

Thanks to careful preparations, plenary and in-group discussions took place as scheduled. Many debates on contentious issues of voter concern became heated with deputies providing convincing evidence to prove their arguments.

Voters valued the NA’s supreme supervision, especially the question time when four Cabinet members and a Deputy Prime Minister took the floor and answered the deputies’ queries. Despite being excluded from the Q&A list, more than 10 other ministers and heads of State agencies also clarified their role and responsibility in tackling issues raised by voters and the deputies. The hearing helped Cabinet members and relevant agencies to become more accountable and come up with solutions to fulfil the tasks entrusted to them.

Voters appreciated the NA’s selection of the four ministers to be grilled on finance, transport, agriculture and rural development, and culture, sports and tourism, as these are areas of great concern to voters across the country. Unanswered queries will be selected by the NA Standing Committee to be posed to Cabinet ministers at its meetings between the intervals of the two legislative sessions.

Another important function of the legislature is to decide on key national issues. Lawmakers spent much time discussing the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Express Railway Line Project and the Overall Master Plan for the Hanoi capital until 2030 and with a vision for 2050 – the two big projects that greatly concern deputies and voters. Deputies pointed out the drawbacks of these plans and asked the government to further study and finalise them before submitting them again to the legislature, taking into account their multi-dimensional impact on the national transport system, economic development and people’s lives.

In his closing speech, NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said “This has been one of the busiest and most effective sessions. It has helped deal with the great bulk of the work, including important issues.” Decisions made at the session show the NA is strongly reforming its operations on behalf of voters, and above all, the national interests.

Source: VOV