87 cities officially no longer exist as of July 1

On June 16, the Law on Local Government (amended) was officially passed by the National Assembly .

Thus, from July 1, the two-level local government will operate at the provincial and communal levels, no longer at the district level as before. This means that 696 administrative units (AUs) will no longer exist. These 696 AUs include 85 provincial cities, 2 centrally-run cities, 52 towns, 49 districts and 508 counties.

Among the 87 cities that no longer have names from July 1, there are 2 cities under the Central Government: Thu Duc - Ho Chi Minh City and Thuy Nguyen - Hai Phong City.

Previously, during the discussion and public consultation on the amendment of the Law on Local Government, some opinions suggested considering keeping the model of a provincial city and defining it as equivalent to a special zone.

Before the National Assembly passed it, the Government had a report on receiving, revising and perfecting the draft law, including explaining this issue.

The Government said that Resolution No. 60 of the 11th Central Conference of the 13th tenure and the conclusions of the Politburo and the Secretariat on the arrangement of administrative units at all levels and the organization of 2-level local governments have oriented the model of 2-level local governments. The draft law has fully institutionalized the Party's policy on the organization of 2-level local governments (there is no type of administrative unit of city or town under the provincial level).

At the end of April, explaining this issue, Director of the Department of Local Government Organization (Ministry of Home Affairs) Phan Trung Tuan also said that continuing to maintain the names associated with the old district level will cause the apparatus to be inconsistent, easily creating confusion among the people about why the district level is abolished but cities and towns still exist.

To avoid such a mentality, the Central Government has carefully considered this issue, then agreed to unify the organization of local government into 2 levels, completely eliminating the district level, including the name of provincial cities.

During the process of commenting on the Constitutional amendment, there were also suggestions to retain the current cities and towns and identify them as basic administrative units, not necessarily divided into wards.

Regarding this content, in the report of the Committee for drafting amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the 2013 Constitution, it was explained that the specific determination of administrative units below the provincial and centrally-run city levels will be stipulated by the National Assembly in laws to suit the practical situation in each period.

The explanatory report clearly stated that in the current period, the determination of communes as administrative units in rural areas, wards as administrative units in urban areas, and special zones as administrative units in some important islands has closely followed the resolutions, conclusions, and directives of the Party in the recent past.

The two-level local government organized in association with administrative units according to this model will ensure the requirements of streamlining the apparatus, reducing intermediate levels, improving management efficiency, saving costs and state budget, bringing the government closer to the people...

At the same time, organizing according to this model will also better ensure people's ownership; ensure that the voices and interests of residents in small cities are also taken into account and are not overwhelmed by large cities within the same provincial administrative unit.

Along with Thuy Nguyen City and Thu Duc City (2 cities under the Central Government), the following 85 provincial cities will stop operating from July 1: