Questioning Activities in the Supervision Program of the People's Council: What Are They? How Are Questioning Activities Conducted?
What is Interpellation Activity in the Supervision Program of the People's Council?
According to the provisions of Clause 7, Article 2 of the Law on Supervision Activities of the National Assembly and People's Council 2015, interpellation is defined as follows:
Explanation of Terms
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7. Interpellation is an activity whereby a National Assembly deputy raises a question concerning the responsibilities of the President, the Chairperson of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, Ministers, other members of the Government, the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy, and the State Auditor General; a People's Council deputy raises a question concerning the responsibilities of the Chairperson of the People's Committee, other members of the People's Committee, the Chief Justice of the People's Court, the Procurator General of the People's Procuracy, heads of departments under the People's Committee, and requests these individuals to answer regarding their responsibilities on the raised issue.
Thus, interpellation activity can be understood as a form of supervision by the deputies of the People's Council, which is held publicly at the sessions of the People's Council.
People's Council deputies will raise issues concerning the responsibilities of the Chairperson of the People's Committee, the Vice Chairpersons of the People's Committee, other members of the People's Committee, the Chief Justice of the People's Court, the Procurator General of the People's Procuracy at the same level, and request these individuals to clarify their responsibilities during the execution of their assigned duties.
What is interpellation activity in the supervision program of the People’s Council? How is interpellation performed?
What are the criteria for selecting issues for interpellation?
Based on Article 8 of Resolution 594/NQ-UBTVQH15, the criteria for selecting groups of issues for interpellation and the persons to be interpellated at the sessions of the People's Council are regulated as follows:
- Based on the program of the session, opinions, recommendations from voters, issues of public concern, and query letters from People's Council deputies, the Standing Committee of the People's Council shall propose groups of issues for interpellation according to the following criteria for the People's Council's consideration and decision:
+ Urgent issues emerging in the local socio-economic life that are of concern to many People's Council deputies and voters;
+ Issues with signs of violating the legal regulations on anti-corruption, negativity, practicing thrift, combating waste, crime prevention, resolving complaints, denunciations, petitions from voters, and other legal regulations;
+ Issues that have been answered directly by the interpellated person at the People's Council session or answered in writing but the People's Council deputies do not agree with the content of the answer;
+ Other issues aimed at enhancing the efficiency of state management, or identified through surveys and supervision as having limitations and inadequacies that need to be addressed through interpellation to clarify and propose solutions for prompt rectification.
- The interpellated person is chosen in accordance with the group of issues for interpellation. The interpellated person must answer directly, thoroughly addressing the issues raised by the People's Council deputies, and cannot delegate the answering to others.
Other individuals may be invited to the session to answer questions from the People's Council deputies regarding issues within their responsibilities.
What is the sequence of interpellation activity as regulated?
According to Clause 1, Article 10 of Resolution 594/NQ-UBTVQH15, 2022, the sequence of interpellation activities at the sessions of the People's Council is as follows:
1. The sequence of interpellation at the sessions of the People's Council is conducted according to the provisions of Article 60 of the Law on Supervision Activities of the National Assembly and the People's Council. The People's Council shall specifically regulate the time for raising questions, the time for answering questions, the chairperson's conduct, and the right to debate of deputies in the Rules of Operation of the People's Council and the deputies of the People's Council or the Rules of the People's Council sessions.
Clause 3, Article 60 of the Law on Supervision Activities of the National Assembly and the People's Council 2015 regulates the sequence of interpellation activities as follows:
- People's Council deputies raise interpellation questions and can provide illustrative information through images, videos, and specific evidence;
- The interpellated person must answer directly and fully address the issues raised by the People's Council deputies, cannot delegate the answering to others, clearly define responsibilities, and provide solutions and timelines for rectifying limitations and inadequacies (if any);
- If the People's Council deputies are not satisfied with the content of the answer, they have the right to interpellate again for the interpellated person to answer;
- Other individuals may be invited to the session to answer questions from the People's Council deputies regarding issues within their responsibilities.
The time for raising questions and answering questions shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Operation of the People's Council and the deputies of the People's Council.
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