Several localities in Ho Chi Minh City are developing proposals to pilot socialist-oriented communes and wards. To ensure the model is implemented substantively and its effectiveness can be assessed, a scientific, feasible, and people-centered set of criteria needs to be developed from the outset.
Comprehensive, measurable and assessable
According to Pham Phuong Thao, former Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and former Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council, as the country enters a new era of development, building socialist-oriented communes and wards is not merely a matter of administrative organization or grassroots governance. It is also a process of realizing the core values of socialism at the level closest and most directly connected to the people.
This process requires steadfast adherence to socialist objectives while making fundamental changes to development thinking, leadership methods and social governance; respecting objective laws; promoting socialist democracy; putting the people at the center as the subjects of the development process; and promoting science and technology, digital transformation and innovation, she siad
With this approach, Ms. Pham Phuong Thao said developing the socialist-oriented commune and ward model should begin with research into a comprehensive set of criteria that can be easily measured and assessed. The criteria should fully cover areas ranging from the economy, politics, culture, society, environment, governance and digital transformation to levels of public satisfaction.
The criteria should go beyond income and economic growth to measure quality of life, the degree of social equity, the effectiveness of government services, social trust, the living environment and people’s capacity for development. In this, science and technology must become a core driver of modern social governance, economic development and improved quality of life.
From the perspective of local governance research, Le Thi Anh Dao, Deputy Director of the Academy of Politics Region II, said a socialist-oriented commune or ward should not merely be a place where policies are implemented. It must become a space that creates development, where people benefit from the fruits of development through continuously improving living conditions.
As a megacity, Ho Chi Minh City needs to develop specific groups of criteria that accurately reflect the requirements of modern urban governance. First is the government’s capacity to manage based on data, the ability of agencies to operate in an interconnected manner, the speed of addressing emerging issues and the quality of public service delivery. Government performance should first and foremost be demonstrated through its ability to serve the people.
Avoid turning the model into an administrative exercise
Another important group of criteria that has drawn considerable attention in the pilot model for socialist-oriented communes, wards and special administrative zones is the quality of the living environment. People must be able to feel changes in everything from green spaces, a clean environment and convenient transportation to school and hospital systems and cultural institutions that increasingly meet community needs.
According to Deputy Director Le Thi Anh Dao, the set of criteria must reflect the ability to ensure development opportunities for all population groups, particularly immigrants, workers, laborers and those in the informal sector. Access to housing, education, healthcare, insurance, culture and public services for these groups is a measure of the humane character of the socialist-oriented commune and ward model.
Meanwhile, Director Pham Thi Hoang Ha of the Institute of Scientific Socialism under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics said developing a set of criteria for the socialist-oriented commune and ward model is not merely about designing a system of governance indicators. It is a process of translating the goals and values of socialism into practical grassroots development. Therefore, the criteria must both accurately reflect the nature of the model and ensure feasibility and applicability in practice.
According to Dr. Pham Thi Hoang Ha, one important principle is to avoid turning the socialist-oriented commune and ward model into an administrative or formalistic exercise. Therefore, the criteria must be developed based on the characteristics of each type of locality. Criteria for communes cannot be exactly the same as those for wards. Even within the same type of administrative unit, the criteria should be applied flexibly according to development conditions, population characteristics and the governance requirements of each locality.
The criteria must be organically interconnected, ensuring that economic development goes hand in hand with environmental protection, digital transformation with improved digital literacy, and urban development with preservation of cultural identity and social welfare.
Dr. Pham Thi Hoang Ha also said the set of criteria for socialist-oriented communes and wards should combine stability with flexibility. Core socialist values such as human-centered development, social equity and the promotion of people’s right to participate in governance must be maintained, while specific indicators should be updated according to each stage of development and local conditions.
At the same time, quantifying criteria does not mean placing absolute emphasis on numbers. Areas such as culture, social trust, the quality of democracy and community cohesion need to be assessed through both quantitative and qualitative indicators to provide a comprehensive picture of development quality.
A viable set of criteria needs three layers: common core criteria to maintain the proper orientation; criteria tailored to each type of locality; and outcome indicators assessed by residents. This should be accompanied by mechanisms for public disclosure, independent oversight and periodic adjustments. Clear criteria mean clear responsibilities and clear results, helping prevent the model from becoming merely formalistic.
)
