Deputies to judge office holders

The National Assembly will soon allow votes on the capacity of office holders similar to ‘no-confidence' votes, Legal Committee vice chairman Nguyen Dinh Quyen told Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times)

It is expected that at their first meeting next year, National Assembly deputies will be able to vote on "no-confidence" motions, as they are termed in the Western world. How do you feel about this?

To have an effective vote, it is imperative to make good preparations - and there is quite a lot of work to do. For example, the procedures on how the votes will be conducted, including information and work performance of the person in that position, must be transparent. These are the solid foundations for conducting a no confidence motion vote.

Some people say it is unnecessary to have an annual opportunity to vote on no-confidence motions. what do you think?

I don't think that the one who receives the highest votes is always the best. As a matter of fact, the issue of these votes was raised about 10 years ago and it was written in the Law on the Oversight of the National Assembly.

However, up to now it has not been put into reality. The obstacle is if the National Assembly wants to conduct a no-confidence motion on any position elected or approved by the deputies, it must have a request from at least 20 per cent of deputies.

In my opinion, the 20 per cent notion has significance only when the vote is one of "no confidence". That's why I support the fourth Party Central Committee plenum's resolution on an annual credential motion vote of positions from Ministers upward.

What should be done to make no-confidence motion a success?

As I have mentioned above, the most important factor that will ensure the success of the motion is good and thorough preparations. Good procedures must be in place.

Before casting their votes, voters must have sufficient information about the person they are going to vote for. And further more, the information must be objective and unbiased.

Some people suggest the vote could be organised before a Minister is in the dock to answer voters' questions during a National Assembly meeting. Do you support that idea?

The deputies have the right to ask for a no-confidence motion on any minister or other senior positions. Then they will decide whether to hold a re-election for that person's position or not.

However, I want to reiterate my point of view on the importance of gaining thorough and objective information on the position the deputies are going to cast their votes.

We cannot make judgements on the answers the ministers or those in more senior positions give to deputies during Q&A sessions. As we all know that saying is quite different from doing. As some people are very good at talking, but very bad at doing. — VNS