NA deputy Vũ Thị Lưu Mai from Hà Nội speaks at the NA session on Friday. —VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — The 14th tenure between 2016 and 2020 of the National Assembly (NA) was a successful term, especially the Q&A sessions and supervision activities, the final sitting of the 14th NA heard yesterday.

The NA deputies spent Friday morning reviewing the performance of the NA’s 14th tenure.

NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said the deputies had upheld their responsibility, stayed close to the people and improved operation quality in all sectors.

“We [NA deputies] should be proud of the contributions made by every deputy, every NA delegation and every NA committee, for the benefits of people and the nation,” Ngân said.

The achievements of the NA’s 14th tenure had left a strong foundation for the 15th term and beyond, she said.

Regarding Q&A activities held during NA sessions over the past five years, NA deputies and the public agreed the sessions had seen major changes with the format switched from discussion to open debate.

Deputy Vũ Thị Lưu Mai from Hà Nội said the 14th NA had adopted a number of quality laws, ensuring transparency without "policy corruption".

However, a lack of supervision in law enforcement might lead to the risk of "policy corruption", she said.

She defined "policy corruption" as deliberately legalising regulations that bring illegitimate benefits to certain organisations and individuals. This type of corruption poses extremely serious consequences as it might serve as a legal foundation for systematic corruption. Some sectors with "policy corruption" risks are land clearance compensation, land pricing and land-use rights auctions.

Mai proposed focusing on the quality of policy analysis and asking for feedback from people, businesses and those affected by policies before approving the bills.

She also proposed accelerating the building of e-Government so people no longer have to pay unofficial fees for administrative procedures.

Deputy Nguyễn Quốc Bình said policies were an intellectual resource and an important source of development, adding that proper policies issued at the right time promote the quick and sustainable socio-economic growth of the country.

To implement the resolution issued at the 13th National Party Congress, Việt Nam's economic growth from 2026 must reach double digits. The target can be reached if the Government and the political system adopt scientific, transparent, practical and ground-breaking policies, meeting requirements to develop the circular, digital and sharing economy, as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, he said.

“The NA needs to strengthen supervision over the promulgation of legal documents that are part of development policy. It is necessary to supervise the policy impact stage and policy-making process to the promulgation and implementation of policies,” Bình said.

NA deputies also frankly pointed out shortcomings of the 14th tenure to learn from.

Lưu Bình Nhưỡng, deputy head of the NA’s Ombudsman Committee, said the NA should propose the Party Central Committee of the 13th tenure issue a resolution on strengthening the capacity and efficiency of supervision work of the NA and People’s Committees, focusing on supervising the mobilisation of national power and resources.

Nhưỡng said the legislative body was slow in preparing for some draft laws and sometimes proposed policies which were not relevant to the Party and the State’s orientations.

Some draft laws stirred public debate while the socio-economic impacts of those draft laws had not been fully assessed in the domestic and international context, which could lead to unpredictable short-term and long-term consequences, he said.

The assessment of some draft laws still showed shortcomings, leading to projects with low-quality or showing signs of lobbying being approved.

The policy analysis capacity of some NA deputies during the law-building process had not met requirements. Some simply approved laws without spending time studying the drafts, he said.

The NA supreme supervision work missed out on some fields like mountainous region dwellers and ethnic minority groups. The NA also lacked supervision in serious criminal cases which attracted public attention, he said. — VNS