Regulations on the order of organizing community meetings in Vietnam

Regulations on the order of organizing community meetings in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is residential community?

According to Clause 3, Article 2 of the Law on Implementation of Grassroots-level Democracy 2022, residential community refers to a group of Vietnamese citizens living in a village, hamlet (otherwise called in ethnic languages) (hereinafter referred to as village), residential group, quarter, street block, cluster and sub-zone (hereinafter referred to as residential group).

2. Regulations on the order of organizing community meetings in Vietnam

Specifically, Clause 5, Article 3, of Decree 59/2023/ND-CP stipulates the order for organizing meetings of residential communities as follows:

(1) The person who chairs the meeting of the residential community as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 3 of Decree 59/2023/ND-CP declares the reason and introduces the delegates; approves the meeting agenda; Introduce a person to the meeting to vote on to be the meeting secretary. The decision of the meeting secretary is made when more than 50% of household representatives attending the meeting raise their hands to vote in agreement.

Based on the specific content of each meeting, the chairperson or assigned person shall announce relevant decisions and documents according to the meeting agenda.

(2) Meeting participants discuss the contents presented by the chairperson or assigned person.

For community meetings to elect village heads and residential group leaders; members of the Community Investment Supervision Board; and members of the People's Inspection Board in communes, wards, and towns, the representative of the Front Working Committee in the village or residential group will introduce the list of candidates. The Front Working Committee in the village or residential group has agreed with the village party committee and residential group and requested household representatives to attend the meeting to self-nominate or nominate people who meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the election.

At the end of the discussion, the meeting chairperson summarizes the discussed opinions, proposes contents that need to be voted on, and presents voting options by raising hands or secret ballots for attendees to choose from. The option is selected when more than 50% of household representatives attending the meeting raise their hands to vote in agreement.

(3) Vote on the discussed contents.

For the form of voting by show of hands, the voting results are counted right at the time of voting and recorded in the meeting minutes.

For voting by secret ballot, the meeting chairperson proposes the number and list of the Vote Counting Committee from 3 to 5 people (including the Head of the Committee and members) for household representatives to attend the meeting to vote by raising hands. The vote-counting committee will decide when more than 50% of household representatives attending the meeting raise their hands to vote in agreement.

The Vote Counting Committee guides the rules on how to record votes, vote, and issue ballots.

After finishing voting, the Vote Counting Committee proceeds to count the votes. During the vote counting process, the Vote Counting Committee invites two major households to attend the meeting to witness the vote counting and prepare a record of the vote counting according to Form No. 02 attached to Decree 59/2023/ND-CP.

Form No. 02

The head of the vote-counting committee announced the vote-counting results at the meeting. The vote counting minutes are made into three copies and sent together with the decision of the residential community to the commune-level People's Committee and the commune-level Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and kept at the village and residential group.

(4) The meeting chairperson announces the voting results for each voting topic and concludes the meeting. The decisions of the residential community are expressed in written form: resolutions, meeting minutes, memoranda, and agreements of the community that clearly show the content of the community's decision according to the provisions of Clause 2 and Article 20 of the Law on Implementation of Grassroots-level Democracy 2022.

Article 20. Residential community’s decision

….

2. Each public decision shall include but not limited to the following:

a) Time of public consultation;

b) Total number of participating family households; the number of representatives of family households; the number of family households participating without representatives;

c) Issues under discussion;

d) Decision-making method;

dd) Results of voting conducted in the meeting or consolidation of survey forms or online voting results collected from family households;

e) Content of public decision;

g) Signature of the head of the village, residential quarter, the Head of the Committee on Fatherland Front Affairs and 02 representatives of family households.

In the event that the meeting elects a village head or residential group leader, the elected person will be present at the meeting.

If the elected candidate cannot be determined, clearly state the reason for not being able to elect the village head or residential group leader in the meeting minutes to report to the Commune People's Committee for consideration and a decision on re-election.

Immediately after the meeting ends, the meeting chairperson is responsible for completing the meeting documents. No later than five working days from the end of the meeting, the decision has been voted for by the community (according to Form No. 03 attached to Decree 59/2023/ND-CP) and must be sent to the commune-level People's Committee and the commune-level Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 20 of the Law on Implementation of Grassroots-level Democracy 2022.

Form No. 03

Article 20. Residential community’s decision

….

3. Within 05 working days at the maximum from the date on which residential community holds the voting meeting or as from the deadline for collection of online survey forms or voting, any decision voted for by residential community shall be submitted to the commune-level People's Committee or the commune-level Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE