Election of Village Chief in Vietnam
Due to disagreements between residential groups in Due village, the Nguyen family wants to make Mr. Mac the village chief, and the Pham family wants to put Mr. Muon in this position to strengthen the family's position. However, Mr. Mac's name was not on the candidate list prepared by the Village Front Working Committee in coordination with the government. On the day of the election of the Village Chief, a group of young people from the Nguyen family gathered in large numbers to cause trouble. They requested the Election team include Mr. Mac's name on the list before the election could be conducted. Faced with the tense trend of the incident, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee had to go to the place to find a way to resolve the incident. How should the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee handle this situation?
Election of Village Chief in Vietnam - image from internet
This is a situation that is both related to the content of the right to discuss and decide directly by the people in the village; both related to the issue of self-governance in the community, as stipulated in the Ordinance on implementing democracy in communes, wards, and towns. The relevant entities in handling the situation are: the village head, head of the village front working committee, and chairman of the community people's committee.
To handle this case legally, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee needs to firmly grasp the following issues:
First, electing the Village Head belongs to the authority of the people in the village
Article 13 of the Ordinance on Implementing Democracy in Communes, Wards and Towns stipulates: Village heads are elected by the people in the village.
Article 14 stipulates: The resolution of the conference is valid when at least half of the voters representing the village's households pass it.
Second, in order to establish the title of Village Chief, recognition by the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee is required.
Clause 2, Article 15 of the Ordinance on Implementing Democracy in Communes, Wards and Towns stipulate that the results of the election of village heads must be approved by the Commune People's Committee.
In addition, the procedure for electing Village Heads is specifically stipulated in Joint Resolution No. 09/2008/NQLT-CP-UBTWMTTQVN dated April 1–7, 2008 of the Government and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.
(from Article 6 to Article 9 of Resolution 09/2008/NQLT – CP – Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee).
In the case of electing a Village Head in Due village, it can be handled as follows:
- Firstly, the Election Committee and the Front Work Board in the village cannot succumb to the pressure of a group of Nguyen family residents and immediately add Mr. Mac's name to the election list during the election session. Typically, to ensure the unity between the will of the people and the guidance of the local authorities, the nomination list for the Village Chief must be established at the groundswell level (in collaboration between the Village Chief, Party Secretary, Front Work Board Chairman, and the heads of various organizations within the village) and then must receive unanimous agreement from the local authorities. However, to ensure democracy, the Village Chief and the Front Work Board Chairman participating in the election session must record an official transcript promoting the formal recommendation of the Nguyen family for further consideration and discussion with the political organizations within the village and submit it to the communicating authorities for their opinion.
- Second, if because of the disruption of the Nguyen youth group, the election cannot be held, the Front Working Committee needs to make a record of that incident, postpone the village meeting, and move it to another session. If the obstructive and disruptive behavior of the Nguyen family's youth group is serious, the Commune Police or the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee can be invited to intervene and impose administrative sanctions on acts of disturbing public order. .
- If the second election of Village Head is still unsuccessful (for example, the number of attendees is not enough due to being controlled), then the solution will be as follows:
+ In case there is already a Village Head from the previous term, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shall temporarily appoint the old Village Head to continue holding the position for a period of 6 months. During that period, assign responsibility to the Commune and Village Front Working Committee to mobilize people, select candidates, and prepare for the election of new Village Heads;
+ In the case of electing the Village Chief for the first time (without any previous Village Chief), the Chairman of the communal People's Committee may appoint a candidate from the nomination list as the interim Village Chief for a period determined by the communal authorities ( e.g., 6 months). This allows for the delegation of responsibilities to the interim Village Chief, Party Secretary of the village, and the Village Front Work Board to coordinate with the various organizations within the village to seize the opportunity to organize a consensus-building process for the official election of the Village Chief afterwards.
