Vietnam’s Communist Party secures nearly 97% of assembly seats
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People voting at a polling station during a parliamentary election in Hanoi on March 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MANILA – Vietnam’s Communist Party won nearly 97 per cent of the 500 seats in the national assembly, according to results released by the Parliament on March 22, confirming its overwhelming dominance after a vote in which almost all candidates were fielded by the ruling party.
The party’s 482-seat haul was roughly in line with the number it held in the outgoing Parliament.
Turnout at the five-yearly elections for MPs and local councils exceeded 99 per cent, the authorities said, in line with past elections.
The unicameral Parliament has virtually no power to challenge the party’s key decisions, including on personnel, but it has occasionally amended proposed laws.
The national assembly is scheduled to hold its first weeks-long session from April 6. During that plenary, lawmakers are due to confirm new state leaders to be named by the party, including the prime minister and the president.
Mr To Lam, who was confirmed as general secretary at the party’s January congress, is widely expected to be chosen as president as well.
Mr Lam’s expected elevation would further align Vietnam’s political structure with that of neighbouring China, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping also serves as general secretary of the Communist Party of China and president.
Vietnam and China are among a handful of communist-ruled states in the world. Though the two neighbours have a long history of mistrust and territorial disputes, including over islands and waters in the South China Sea, their communist parties remain officially close.
The conclusion of the election comes as Vietnam, like many countries, grapples with the spillover effects of the deepening Middle East crisis on global trade, energy markets and regional stability. REUTERS
