Fight against distorted and reactionary arguments about streamlining the apparatus of the political system

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - In the process of administrative reform, our Party and State have identified streamlining the organizational apparatus and improving operational efficiency as essential requirements to better serve the people and meet the requirements of sustainable development. However, hostile forces have taken advantage of this policy to distort and falsify it, claiming that it is just a form of "internal power transfer", thereby attacking the Party's leadership role and dividing the Party from the State and the People. This is a very sensitive political and ideological issue, requiring correct identification and sharp counter-arguments.

People come to do transactions at Dong Son Ward Public Administration Service Center.

Identifying false arguments and political conspiracies

One of the false and dangerous distortions that has been actively spread by hostile and reactionary forces is that the policy of streamlining the political system's organizational apparatus is essentially just a transfer of power within the Party, a manifestation of "underground fighting" and "factional purge" among interest groups. They believe that the reorganization and consolidation of the organizational apparatus is not for the purpose of serving the people and improving the effectiveness of state management, but is an excuse to restructure internal power to eliminate opponents and consolidate the position of a certain group of cadres.

This argument is expressed in a sophisticated and intentional manner. They often take advantage of the mobilization, rotation, appointment or dismissal of cadres - which are normal procedures in organizing and managing personnel - to infer that it is the result of a "power struggle". Some cases of cadres who are disciplined or not reappointed according to regulations are also attributed to "being brought down by another faction", not due to the requirement to streamline the apparatus or weak capacity. The nature of this argument is to distort the Party's reform motives and goals, they deliberately divert public opinion from the core issue of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the political apparatus, in order to create skepticism and loss of confidence among cadres, party members and the people. It arouses doubts about the transparency of cadre organization work, thereby gradually inciting internal conflicts, dividing the solidarity bloc within the Party, and aiming to deny the Party's leadership role in the process of reforming the state apparatus.

It can be seen that this trick, although not new, is still dangerous in the context of our Party and State streamlining the organizational apparatus in conjunction with restructuring and improving the quality of the staff. On the one hand, they take advantage of the anxiety of a number of cadres about organizational changes; on the other hand, they want to exploit the lack of understanding or misconceptions of the people to sow doubt and undermine trust in the major policies and guidelines of the Party and State.

Refute and fight against some wrong, hostile and politically conspiratorial views.

Firstly, streamlining the apparatus is an objective and correct requirement. Resolution 6 of the 12th Central Committee pointed out that “Continue to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined, effective and efficient”. The Resolution clearly pointed out the shortcomings in the current apparatus, such as cumbersomeness, overlapping functions and tasks, many intermediate levels, large staff but low efficiency. From there, it sets out the requirement to innovate the organization in the direction of streamlining, reducing focal points, saving budget expenditures, while improving management effectiveness and service quality for the people.

And this policy is further affirmed and specified in the conclusions of the Politburo such as: Conclusion No. 34-KL/TW dated August 7, 2018 on implementing the policy of streamlining the payroll and restructuring the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees; Conclusion No. 65-KL/TW dated October 28, 2019 on continuing to implement the Resolution of the 4th Central Committee, terms XI and XII, on Party building and rectification; Conclusion No. 48-KL/TW dated April 26, 2022 on organizing the apparatus of specialized agencies advising and assisting provincial Party committees. These documents unanimously emphasize the spirit: restructuring the organization goes hand in hand with improving the quality of the contingent, tightening discipline and order in personnel work, not for the benefit of groups, not in the name of reform to serve factional goals.

At the 13th National Party Congress (2021), our Party continued to affirm: "Continue to innovate and perfect the Party's organizational apparatus and the streamlined political system, operate effectively and efficiently; streamline the payroll associated with improving the quality of the staff...". The document also requires good implementation of pilot models such as merging a number of agencies with similar functions, holding concurrent positions to reduce intermediate levels and reduce apparatus costs.

The draft documents of the 14th National Congress continue to inherit and develop the above policy, emphasizing: “Perfect and strictly implement the mechanism of controlling power, preventing abuse of power, violations of discipline and order. Pilot the merger of a number of Party and State agencies with similar functions and tasks; resolutely streamline the organization, apparatus and payroll in conjunction with salary reform and improving the quality of cadres”.

Thus, streamlining the apparatus is not an internal activity or a “power purge”, but a process of extensive administrative reform with clear direction, close supervision and consistency from the central to local levels. This policy comes from the need to improve the effectiveness of national governance, build a modern administration for the people, and absolutely not for the purpose of monopolizing power or eliminating factions as distorted by hostile forces.

The deliberate distortion and falsification of the nature of this policy clearly shows the plot to create negative public opinion, divide the Party internally, and erode the trust of cadres, Party members and the masses in the Party's leadership. Therefore, identifying and refuting false and distorted arguments about organizational reform is an urgent political task at present, contributing to protecting the Party's ideological foundation in the new situation.

Second, the arrangement and reorganization of the apparatus must follow the principles of democracy, transparency, with a clear roadmap and authority.

The reorganization of the apparatus is a task carried out by state agencies in accordance with their functions, tasks and legal procedures, with close supervision by the National Assembly, People's Councils at all levels and the participation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations in social supervision. For example, the contents of the reorganization of administrative units at the district and commune levels or the model of local government organization at the provincial and district levels must be submitted to the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and decision in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Organization of Local Government 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2019). In addition, the policy of restructuring the apparatus is also implemented on the basis of widely consulting the entire Party and the entire people, through official channels such as consulting on Congress documents, contributing to Resolutions, draft laws, decrees, etc. From that, it can be seen that the entire process of reforming the apparatus is not a closed internal activity, nor is it an abuse of power by any organization or individual, but an institutional reform process organized democratically, scientifically , legally, with power control, social supervision and ensuring the central role of the people in all major decisions.

The fact that reactionary forces distort this process into a “power grab” is a dangerous and intentional fallacy. They want to attack the people’s trust in the leadership of the Party and the proper operation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

We all know that the streamlining of the political system in many localities across the country has clearly demonstrated the correctness, efficiency and transparency in organization and implementation. There is no sign that this is a process of "power struggle" or "internal transfer" as distorted arguments. Instead, the specific results show that this is an inevitable and scientific step to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of serving the people, such as: after the merger, the whole country reduced 63 provinces and cities to 34 provinces and cities, including 28 provinces and 6 centrally-run cities; the number of commune-level administrative units after the arrangement, the whole country reduced from 10,035 to more than 3,321 units. Localities have basically completed the arrangement and consolidation: 465 specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committees, 9,916 specialized departments at the commune level were established and put into stable operation. In Thanh Hoa province, after the merger, there were 166 commune-level administrative units, down from 547 units to 166 units, including 147 communes and 19 wards, of which 21 communes remained the same and 126 communes were newly established after the arrangement.

People come to do transactions at the Public Administration Service Center of Hac Thanh Ward.

The above results not only affirm the effectiveness but also demonstrate the transparency and stability in the implementation of the streamlining of the apparatus in localities. This process is not a "power struggle", but is to implement the spirit of the Party's policy with the requirement: "perfecting the synchronous, streamlined, effective and efficient apparatus, improving the quality of the staff". Therefore, refuting and fighting against these false arguments is an important task of all cadres, party members and people, in order to protect the cause of national construction and development, strengthen people's trust in the leadership of the Party, contribute to maintaining political stability and protecting the achievements of the revolution.

Need to implement some solutions synchronously

To effectively combat false and distorted arguments that the streamlining of the apparatus is a manifestation of the transfer of power within the Party, it is necessary to first promote ideological and theoretical work in a synchronous and profound manner. Second, it is necessary to improve the capacity to identify and expose distortions in cyberspace - which is becoming the main front in the "peaceful evolution" strategy of hostile forces. Functional agencies, press agencies, socio-political organizations and especially specialized units on cyber security must coordinate closely, closely monitor public opinion developments to detect and strictly handle subjects spreading fake news and distorting the Party's policies. Third, it is necessary to continue to perfect the institutional system in the direction of clear functions, clear authorities, clear responsibilities, avoiding overlap or vacancies in state management. Elected bodies such as the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels need to promote their role in supervising the implementation of resolutions and projects on streamlining the apparatus at local and central levels. In particular, the implementation results need to be made public for people to monitor and evaluate, thereby strengthening trust and creating consensus in society. Fourthly, it is necessary to link the process of streamlining the apparatus with improving the quality of the staff and building a professional and modern civil service. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to promote the work of selecting, training, fostering and evaluating cadres based on criteria of capacity and work efficiency, instead of relying on position or personal relationships. At the same time, it is necessary to build a clear and transparent mechanism for screening cadres to eliminate unqualified people, creating a healthy competitive working environment, promoting the real capacity of each person.

In short, the policy of streamlining the apparatus of the political system is a strategic, inevitable, and objective step, aiming to build a streamlined, effective, and efficient administration that serves the people. The fact that hostile forces deliberately distort the nature of this work is not only to cause suspicion among cadres and party members, but also to divide the great national unity bloc, and undermine the people's trust in the Party's leadership role. Therefore, protecting the policy of streamlining the apparatus is also contributing to protecting the Party, protecting the country's correct path of reform and development in the new period. This is not only a political task, but also the responsibility of every cadre, party member, and citizen in the cause of building a socialist rule-of-law state, creating a modern, honest, and people-serving administration./.

Le Thi Anh - Political Center of Hac Thanh Ward

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/dau-tranh-chong-lai-luan-dieu-xuyen-tac-phan-dong-ve-tinh-gon-bo-may-cua-he-thong-chinh-tri-260896.htm