Dealing with people’s complaints and denunciation, ensuring voters’ voices are heard are crucial functions of all parliaments besides legislative power. In Vietnam, meetings with voters are regularly carried out by National Assembly deputies before and after NA sessions while the NA Standing Committee’s Commission of People’s Petition (CPP) is the first and focal point in handling people’s petitions beside NA deputies delegations, People’s Councils and Fatherland Fronts.

During the 14th National Assembly (2016-21) CPP in coordination with relevant agencies received 48,765 people, more than 900 groups with petitions and dealt with more than 13,000 cases.

However, performances of the elected deputies and bodies in handling people’s petition need improvement, said CPP leaders at the conference jointly held by Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung on Monday in Da Nang City. The elected agencies just received petition letters/complaints and referred to relevant organisations. They haven’t seriously monitored the settlement so many cases remained unsolved for many years resulting in prolonged complaints and denunciation.

At the conference, many of the participants shared the view that it is necessary to build capacity for the staff who are in charge of dealing with people’s complaint and denunciation; institutionalise People’s Petition work; upgrade the People’s Petition Commission to a Committee under the NA in order that PPC staff will be able to inspect, oversight and request administrative to solve certain cases.

Enhancing the effectiveness of petition works would also lift quality of the legislative work since many voters’ opinions are about unreasonable points in some laws and legal document, they argued.

The conference attracted more than 80 participants from central and central highland regions.