Communists to Continue to Dominate Vietnam Parliament in Next Term

Rubber stamp parliament in Vietnam

Rubber stamp parliament in Vietnam

Number of non-communists in the next 500-person parliament will be between 20 and 50, said the Standing Committee

by Vu Quoc Ngu, Feb 2, 2016

Members of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) will continue to dominate Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly in the 2016-2021 term, according to the recent resolution of the parliament’s Standing Committee.

As many as 80 members of the CPV’s Central Committee will participate in the 500-member parliament which will be set up after the country’s general election scheduled on May 21 this year.

The NA’s Standing Committee set the number of non-communists to be between 20 and 50.

The to-be-established parliament will have 198 members from central agencies, 11 members from the party’s apparatuses, 18 members from the government and its agencies, and 114 full-time members.

The rubber stamp parliament will have 15 members from army and three from police forces. Only seven entrepreneurs will be selected for the legislative body, including three from the state sector and four from the private sector.

Provinces and cities will have 302 members in the parliament which is set to have 162 members from ethnic minorities and 90 females, at least.

The first session of the parliament will be held in July to elect the nation’s key posts, including the president, the prime minister and the top legislator, the Standing Committee said in its resolution.

After the 12th National Congress of the CPV, Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and NA’s Vice Chairwoman are set to respectively succeed incumbent Truong Tan Sang, PM Nguyen Tan Dung and NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung who were not re-elected to the party’s Central Committee for the 2016-2020 period.

The National Election Council is required to strictly follow the resolution while the communist-controlled Fatherland Front will take important roles in introducing candidates and verifying their eligibility.

In Vietnam which is ruled by communists for decades, the parliament has duties to approve all decisions taken by the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPV. Since its first tenure in 1946, any draft law has been built by legislators but government bodies and other state agencies.