National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (standing) chairs the conference on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The work of amending and supplementing the Constitution must be cautious, democratic, scientific and effective, said National Assembly (NA) Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn on Monday.

While chairing a conference to review, amend and supplement the Constitution to facilitate the restructuring of the organisational apparatus, Mẫn confirmed that changing the Constitution requires strict procedures based on innovation and breakthrough thinking.

This is the second meeting of the NA Party Committee on this topic, after the first meeting took place a week ago.

The NA Chairman said that, in terms of progress, according to a Politburo request, the deadline for submitting comments to the Politburo for consideration was extremely urgent.

He added that the content of the work is very important, while the volume of work is very large, involving many agencies and organisations associated with the political system streamlining process.

Participation from experts, scientists and leaders from all sectors -- as well as public opinion -- is also needed.

"According to regulations, any amendments to the Constitution must first take public opinion into account. Public comments will be collected over the course of one month and synthesised within five days. Collecting opinions from the public will take place in May and June," Mẫn said.

Emphasising the importance of amending and supplementing the 2013 Constitution, the NA Chairman said that the NA Party Standing Committee was focused on the issue.

After the meeting last Monday, the NA Party Committee met again for the second time on this topic, with further meetings yet to be decided.

“We will not count how many times we will meet, but we will continue meeting until everything is clear, before summarising the results and submitting a report to the agencies,” Mẫn said.

“It is not only the NA Standing Committee that is meeting, but also the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Party committees, the Fatherland Front agencies and the People's Procuracy, all of whom are meeting continuously,” he added.

The NA Chairman said that the NA’s Law and Justice Committee has recently coordinated to study and revise a draft report focusing on six groups of issues.

The draft report has reviewed 58 Party documents, 12 articles of the 2013 Constitution and 421 legal documents.

According to Mẫn, the draft is highly elaborate, including nine types of documentsthat clearly state proposed options, and three appendices.

"Up to now, the draft report to review, amend and supplement the Constitution has been carefully and methodically prepared with the participation of relevant agencies and organisations,” said the NA Chairman.

“The comments sent back are sufficient and proactive, ensuring progress. A total of 16 agencies and organisations have sent back their comments, and all agree with the basic content of the report. The reception and careful explanation is reassuring,” he added.

During the meeting, the NA Party Standing Committee heard a representative from the NA’s Law and Justice Committee briefly present the draft proposal and the draft report.

The NA Party Committee members and ministry representatives gave opinions on the contents of the draft proposal, the draft report and related issues. — VNS