Vietnam NA Standing Committee Debates on Draft Law on Referendum

NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung at the 40th session of Standing Committee

NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung at the 40th session of Standing Committee

The committee agreed that referenda should be conducted on the country’s Constitution, defense and diplomacy issues which have important roles in the country’s existence and development, principles of the state of law and people’s democracy, and major socio-economic issues.

By Vu Quoc Ngu | Aug 12, 2015

The Standing Committee of Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly has worked on the draft law on referendum, agreeing on major points of the bill.

The committee agreed that referenda should be conducted on the country’s Constitution, defense and diplomacy issues which have important roles in the country’s existence and development, principles of the state of law and people’s democracy, and major socio-economic issues.

One referendum can be considered legal when over 75% of the voters participate in the poll and the result is the decision of the majority in the referendum, legislators said.

The Standing Committee will be the state agency to conduct the referenda under the request of the parliament, which has power to announce the result of the referenda.

The referenda will be conducted nationwide and the results must be respected, said NA’s Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, adding the government must not do any move which is rejected by the referenda.

The draft law is expected to be submitted to the communist-controlled parliament for approval in October.