VZCZCXRO8879
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #0677/01 0820742
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230742Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1212
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0764
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI VM
 
SUBJECT: Towards a National Assembly That Makes Laws? 
 
HANOI 00000677  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In spite of the National Assembly's 
evolving role as Government watchdog, its involvement 
in Vietnam's lawmaking process remains limited.  Both 
the GVN and the National Assembly recognize that this 
is partially due to the Assembly's lack of resources, 
particularly professional staffers.  Furthermore, the 
National Assembly's tradition of collective decision- 
making, combined with disconnects between itself and 
the GVN, currently hamstring its ability to draft 
legislation.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) A notable, and relatively recent, development 
in Vietnamese politics has been the expanding role of 
the National Assembly (NA).  The legislature is 
increasingly taking on the job of ombudsman and 
Government watchdog, and live television broadcasts of 
parliamentarians taking Government ministers to task 
has become a regular feature of the NA's semiannual 
sessions.  However, one area in which the Assembly's 
development is lagging is, ironically, in the actual 
lawmaking process.  The GVN traditionally has the lead 
in drafting laws, but is seeking not only a greater and 
more effective give-and-take by the Assembly in the 
lawmaking process, but also an increased role for the 
legislature in the actual formulation of laws. 
 
GVN: "National Assembly Not Involved Enough" 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to Pham Tuan Khai, Director of the 
Office of the Government's (OOG) Committee for 
Legislative Affairs, one significant problem is the 
"lack of participation early on" by NA members in the 
lawmaking process.  Legislators should involve 
themselves more proactively in the drafting process to 
allow both the GVN's law drafters and NA 
representatives to reach a common approach regarding 
the spirit, and eventual implementation, of new laws. 
In some cases, members of the Assembly get involved too 
late, which leads to the GVN's inability to incorporate 
their ideas into draft laws before the NA is scheduled 
to formally approve them.  "We expect the National 
Assembly to fully participate in the drafting process 
in order to minimize unexpected and last-minute 
changes," which can sometimes prevent GVN agencies from 
effectively implementing laws once they are passed, 
Khai asserted. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Another problem is the scarcity of capable 
professional staff members in the National Assembly, 
Khai continued.  In many cases, NA staffers who attend 
drafters' meetings fail to take advantage of the 
opportunity to add their insights into draft laws, and 
their lack of expertise and policy understanding has 
sometimes led to problems. 
 
But When It Does Get Involved... 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) For now, the majority of draft laws are 
prepared by various Government agencies, Khai 
continued.  He emphasized that, in the long run, there 
must be a formal mechanism to facilitate parliamentary 
participation in the drafting process to improve the 
efficacy of Vietnamese law and the effectiveness of its 
implementation.  Offering one example of how "things 
can go wrong," Khai noted that the NA formulated on its 
own and passed an Ordinance on Population in January 
2003 that allowed couples to decide the size of their 
families and the number of children they want.  The 
National Assembly's "unexpected liberty" in creating 
this ordinance contradicted GVN policy and, in fact, 
"harmed the GVN's long-term efforts to promote family 
planning projects, which had proved to be very 
effective in controlling birth rates."  The 
implementing decree for the ordinance that the GVN 
subsequently announced (in September 2003) requires 
couples to follow the small-family model of one or two 
children, contravening the letter and spirit of the 
National Assembly's ordinance.  To resolve this 
contradiction, the GVN has formally requested that the 
NA revoke this ordinance, Khai explained. 
 
¶6. (SBU) However, the NA sometimes "gets it right," 
Khai continued.  In a "model of National Assembly 
participation in the lawmaking process," Khai noted 
that the NA's Committee on Science, Technology and 
Environment has taken the lead in coordinating the 
 
HANOI 00000677  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
drafting of the Electronic Transactions Law, presiding 
over meetings of representatives from various 
Government agencies to discuss the bill.  This is a 
good example of how the NA can be more active in 
legislative affairs by playing a coordinating role and 
helping to deal with the issue of different GVN 
agencies trying to protect their own interests and 
turf.  To formalize its participation in the lawmaking 
process, the NA should come up with a mechanism on its 
own, because legislators "would probably oppose any GVN- 
proposed mechanism," Khai wryly noted. 
 
Assembly Agrees It Needs More Staffers 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to Nguyen Sy Dzung, Deputy Director 
of the Office of the National Assembly (ONA), both 
Vietnam's Constitution and the Law on the National 
Assembly's Organization allow delegates play a leading 
role in the lawmaking process by submitting their own 
bills.  However, the Assembly's current composition and 
structure make this difficult.  Lacking professional 
staff and the resources to do "policy analysis," the 
legislature is often under pressure to "just pass" the 
GVN's proposed bills and let the Executive Branch come 
up with the necessary regulations and implementing 
decrees, he acknowledged. 
 
"Assembly Makes an Effort to Play Lawmaking Role... 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) When it comes to the NA's own legislative 
initiatives, National Assembly members often come up 
with their own "ideal laws," which sometimes prove to 
be impractical or unacceptable to the GVN, senior 
Assembly staffer Nguyen Chi Dzung said.  On the 
specific example of the Population Ordinance raised 
above by the OOG's hai, he defended the stand that the 
NA took, assrting that the ordinance was in accordance 
with international conventions.  NA members do not wantto revoke Assembly ordinances and other laws that the 
GVN dislikes.  When it comes to family planning issues, 
they believe that the GVN agencies involved should be 
able to come up with solutions to educate Vietnam's 
citizens, rather than punish them, he asserted. 
 
...But the GVN Does Not Make It Easy" 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) On the issue of Assembly commentary on GVN- 
drafted legislation, in many cases the Government will 
submit bills to the National Assembly that "say only 
the right things" and are "too broad and vague," Chi 
Dzung continued.  This effectively prevents NA members 
from making any critical comments.  Moreover, the GVN's 
subsequent implementing decrees either do not fully 
represent the spirit of the original bill or advance 
only a particular GVN agency's interests.  In order to 
resolve this problem and facilitate the true discussion 
of GVN-proposed bills, many NA delegates, including 
Chairman Nguyen Van An, have formally requested that 
draft laws submitted to the NA be accompanied by draft 
implementing decrees. 
 
Collective Decision-Making an Obstacle 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The criticism that NA representatives are too 
"passive" at legislation drafting meetings is 
"unreasonable," Chi Dzung said.  Emphasizing what he 
referred to as "the primary principle guiding the 
operation of the National Assembly -- 'collective 
decision-making,'" Chi Dzung said NA staffers or 
members who attend drafting meetings are not supposed 
to speak on behalf of any single NA committee, let 
alone the whole NA.  They attend these meetings to get 
a better understanding of the GVN's approaches to keep 
NA committees and delegates informed as well as prepare 
them for formal discussions of GVN-proposed bills 
during Assembly sessions, he said. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Again stressing the collective decision- 
making principle, Chi Dzung noted that the NA should 
not take the lead in "coordinating GVN drafting 
efforts" by chairing GVN legislation drafting meetings. 
GVN drafters themselves must be able to assume this 
burden and defend certain legislation's feasibility. 
Nobody, even ranking NA officials, can speak on behalf 
 
HANOI 00000677  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
of the whole NA.  Any items on the agenda of a NA 
session, especially draft laws, must be collectively 
and thoroughly debated and approved by the Assembly as 
a whole, he underscored. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) As both our GVN and NA interlocutors 
acknowledge, until the Assembly addresses its human and 
other resource issues, it will be difficult for the 
body to be more proactive in the lawmaking process. 
Another obstacle is the conflict between the GVN's 
desire to have the Assembly, or individual Assembly 
members, play a greater role in the drafting of 
legislation and the legislature's reluctance to buck 
its tradition of collective decision-making.  Perhaps 
the Assembly's plan to increase the number of its full- 
time delegates to as much as 50 percent of its total 
membership (from its current level of 25 percent) will 
further strengthen its lawmaking role.  In the 
meantime, however, scarcity of resources and ongoing 
disconnects between the GVN and the Assembly are likely 
to limit the range of the legislature's lawmaking 
activities.  End Comment. 
 
MARINE