50 Self-Nominees Registered for Vietnam’s General Election: Senior Official

Human rights lawyer Vo An Don is among self-nominee for a seat in Vietnam's parliament for next term

Human rights lawyer Vo An Don is among self-nominee for a seat in Vietnam’s parliament for next term

Vietnam may have 50 non-communist lawmakers in the 500-person parliament in the 2016-2021 term, said President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan.

by Vu Quoc Ngu, March 04, 2016

As many as 50 self-nominees have registered to compete for seats in Vietnam’s legislative body National Assembly (NA) for the 2016-2021 term so far, said Nguyen Thien Nhan, president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, an agency empowered to verify eligibility of all nominees.

The number of self-nominees for legislator’s posts in the country’s parliaments in the next general election scheduled on May 22 will increase in coming days, said President Nhan, who is also member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have highest number of self-nominees, he noted at the third meeting of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the mass organization controlled by the ruling communist party.

Vietnam may have 50 non-communist lawmakers in the 500-person parliament in the 2016-2021 term, Nhan said earlier.

Vietnam has 184 units for elections of the country’s lawmakers. The ruling party introduces 198 candidates so 15 units will have two candidates.

It is difficult to ensure the two candidates introduced by the party to win their seats, said Tran Van Tuy, deputy head of the party’s Central Commission for Personnel.

The agencies involving in the general and local elections, especially the Vietnam Fatherland Front must take all measures to ensure no discrimination among candidates, said Nguyen Van Pha, vice president of the VFF.

Pha also urged candidates to inspect the elections to ensure its fairness.

Meanwhile, many social activists have registered for seats in the parliament and People’s Councils in provincial, district and communal level. Their move aims to challenge the political monopoly of the Communist Party of Vietnam which has ruled the country for decades.

However, there is little chance for them to be included in the final list of candidates as the communists are expected to make all tricks to kick them out, as they did in previous elections for unwanted people, observers said.