On January 14, 2016, the National Assembly Standing Committee announced Sunday, May 22, as the election day for deputies to the XIVth National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels of the 2016-21 tenure.
The elections will be held under the new Law on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly and Deputies to People’s Councils (the 2015 Law), which aims to promote democracy for citizens to fully exercise their rights to stand for election and vote.
In January, the Party and the State issued a number of resolutions and directives on the election. The National Assembly Standing Committee and the National Election Council[1] also issued various guidelines on the election in the first two months of the year.
A lot of things must be done in preparation for the upcoming elections.
Three consultative conferences for nomination of candidates
According to the 2015 Law, three consultative conferences will be organized to nominate candidates for the election of National Assembly deputies. The conferences will be organized by the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee at the central level and by the Standing Boards of provincial-level Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at the provincial level.
The first consultative conference will approve the proportion, composition and number of candidates nominated by central and local agencies, organizations and units based on the proposal of the National Assembly Standing Committee. The second conference will prepare a preliminary list of candidates and send it to voters in the places of residence of candidates for comment. After each conference, the National Assembly Standing Committee will make adjustments to the proportion, composition and number of candidates nominated by agencies, organizations and units at central and local levels to stand for the election of National Assembly deputies. The last conference will select and make a list of qualified candidates.
Regarding nomination of candidates for the election of People’s Council deputies at the provincial, district and commune levels, consultative conferences at each level will be organized by the Standing Boards of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at the same level.
The first conference will agree on the proportion, composition and number of candidates nominated to stand for the election of People’s Council deputies. Based on the first consultation result, the second conference will draw up a preliminary list of candidates and send it to voters in the places of residence of candidates for comment, for self-nominated candidates and candidates nominated by agencies, organizations and units, or to voters in the workplaces (if any) of candidates for comment, for self-nominated candidates and candidates nominated by villages or urban quarters for the election of commune-level People’s Council deputies.
Under Plan No. 40/KH-HDBCQG issued by the National Election Council on January 29, the deadline is February 17, 2016, for the first consultative conference, March 18 for the second conference, and April 17 for the third conference. Nominated and self-nominated candidates for election of National Assembly deputies must submit their files to the election bodies on March 13 at the latest.
On February 16, the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee held the first consultative conference on the number of candidates nominated by central agencies for the new National Assembly. The conference discussed and basically agreed with the number of deputies from central agencies in the XIVth National Assembly proposed by the National Assembly Standing Committee, which is 198, up by 15 compared to the previous tenure.
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| Delegates vote on the preliminary list of candidates for deputies to the XIVth National Assembly and Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Council of the 2016-21 tenure__Photo: The Anh/VNA |
Personnel structure proposed by the National Assembly Standing Committee
In late January, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 1135/2016/UBTVQH13 proposing the proportion and composition and number of National Assembly deputies for the new tenure. Accordingly, the total number of deputies of this tenure would be 500, including 198 from central agencies and organizations, representing 39.6 percent, and 302 deputies from localities, accounting for 60.4 percent.
Of the total candidates working in central agencies and organizations, 11 would be from Party agencies, three from the Presidential Office, 114 from parliamentary agencies - around 20 percent of whom are expected to be women and 10 percent ethic minority people, and 18 from government agencies.
The numbers of deputies from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security are proposed to be 15 and three, respectively. The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the State Audit Agency are expected to have one deputy each.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations are set to have 31 deputies in the new National Assembly, who will represent women, ethnic minority groups, the youth, the religious, non-Party members, intellectuals, writers and artists.
The Resolution proposes the number of Central Party Committee members participating in the new National Assembly would be 80, including 12-14 Politburo and Secretariat members. The numbers of deputies who are non-party members, young people (under 40 years old) and re-elected are set at 25-50, 50 and 160, respectively.
The document also says that the numbers of women and ethnic minority in the official list of candidates should be at least 314 and 162 respectively, of whom at least 150 and 90 are expected to win the election, representing 30 percent and 18 percent of the total number of deputies.
The National Assembly Standing Committee also proposes the principle for determination of the number of National Assembly deputies to be elected in each province or centrally run city. It says that each locality would elect at least six National Assembly deputies, including at least three residing and working in the locality. The remainder would be calculated based on the population and characteristics of each province or centrally run city, ensuring that the total number of to-be-elected deputies would be 500.
The number of People’s Council deputies must comply with the Law on Organization of Local Administration and January 16, 2016 Resolution No. 1132/NQ-UBTVQH13 of the National Assembly Standing Committee proposing the proportion and composition and allocation of numbers of People’s Council deputies at all levels of the 2016-21 tenure.
On March 3, the National Election Council issued Resolution No. 53/NQ-HDBCQG on the number and list of constituencies for election and the number of National Assembly deputies to be elected in each constituency in 63 provinces and centrally run cities nationwide.
The total of constituencies for election of new National Assembly deputies is 184.
On April 27 at the latest, the National Election Council must complete and announce the official list candidates for National Assembly deputies.- (VLLF)
