Draft amendments to Constitution submitted to NA

Proposed amendments to the 1992 Constitution are scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly today, the first day of the fifth session of the 13th NA that will last until June 22.

After NA chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung delivered the opening speech and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc presented an additional report of the Government about the country’s socio-economic performance and the State’s budget situation in 2012 and in the first months of 2013, chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s Central Executive Committee Huynh Dam presented a report summing up the public opinions about possible amendments to the Constitution.

According to a report released by the Ministry of Justice on May 17, opinions about on draft amendments to the 1992 Constitution had been collected from around 18 million people across 63 provinces and cities.

Regarding the Government’s operations, most people surveyed proposed a clearly defined legal position for the Government as an executive body, while many also proposed increasing individual responsibilities of the Prime Minister and ministers.

As for local administration, the public opinion favored comprehensive renewal of local administration with focus put on the ethics of self-control and self-responsibility.

The public also gave opinions about regulations relating to human rights and the basic rights and obligations of people, requesting that such rights be enshrined in the constitution and laws.

Many voters also said there should be new regulations  on land eviction and compensation in which legal land users must be compensated commensurate with the market price in case of land revocation by the State.

Following Dam’s report, NA’s Law Committee chairman Phan Trung Ly, who is also the spokesperson of the Drafting Committee for Constitution Amendment, presented a report on the draft amendments to the Constitution.

These amendments have been completed based on opinions collected from the general public nationwide.