Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, Nov 27 (VNA) -- Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has prescribed a combination of clearly defined accountability for cabinet members, and authority for them to discharge their functions, as a panacea for restoring order to the administrative apparatus.

He was speaking at the National Assembly on Wednesday morning where he pointed out that while there had been enough talk about bringing discipline to State administration, action on the ground was lacking.

"It's high time we acted," the Prime Minister said, adding that specific measures ought to be worked out to improve the situation.
"We must make sure that personal responsibility accompanies authority," he stressed.

This demands amendments to existing regulations, Khai said. The task ahead of the Government now is to introduce specific measures spelling out duties, obligations and the organisation of ministries.

Personal responsibilities would soon be identified in an impending document, to decentralise power to provincial people's committees, the PM said.

Early next year, he promised, he will himself make an inspection tour to deal with violations of administrative discipline, particularly those already exposed, in land use and construction projects.

He exhorted cabinet ministers and people's committee chairmen to follow suit, and deal with breach of discipline under their jurisdiction. The PM said it was important to crack down on such violations to discover why such loopholes existed in administration.

Khai underlined the need to review staff deployment to enable himself and his cabinet members to visit grassroots units.

He also urged ushering in a work style that facilitated direct contacts between cabinet members and business leaders so that the former could learn more about their subordinates' leadership and work skills.

The PM requested National Assembly deputies to help the Government in streamlining the administrative apparatus by supervising administrative offices, particularly law-enforcement agencies, in their constituencies.

Khai said enforcement of traffic laws should be prime task in all cities and provinces next year, stressing that civil society suffered greatly from loss of human lives and property from road accidents, with over 10,000 people killed an 30,000 injured.

Many deputies had raised the problem and Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh had presented options to reduce road accidents and improve roadways, especially in major urban centres, he pointed out.

However, he said, all these measures would be inadequate in the absence of efforts to educate the public about strictly observing traffic laws.

Khai urged a persistent and determined campaign since traffic safety was an urgent issue besides being an imperative to preserve the civilised nature of life in the country and improve Viet Nam's image in the eyes of the outside world.

"It is a difficult task but not impossible," the Prime Minister said, citing instances of the ban on making and bursting fire crackers and illegally building houses along Ha Noi's Yen Phu Dyke. "The Government will stand resolute, drawing from those experiences."

As soon as discussions about a ban on fire crackers began, there was a lot of noise because firing crackers at Tet (Lunar New Year celebration) and other festivals had been Viet Nam's age-old custom, he reminded deputies.

"But we succeeded. With consensus reached among the authorities and general public, it was easy to get fire-cracker makers to shift to other lucrative businesses, and severely punish violators," Khai said.

He urged lawmakers to make 2003 "the year of great improvement in observing traffic laws and of sharp reduction in road accidents."
Even though the NA and the Government were determined to resolve the problem, it needed all sections and mass organizations at all levels to join hands, he said.

PM Khai's speech to the NA was followed by NA Chairman Nguyen Van An's, who concluded the three-day hearing session, pointing out that the question-answer session had been much more frank than previous ones.

The session heard presentations from seven ministers, the Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court and Director of the Supreme People's Procuracy.

However, Chairman An said, some delegates too did not ask straight questions, eliciting answers that were not to the point.