Vietnam holds general elections, 93% of candidates come from the ruling Communist Party | Elections News

Vietnamese elect members of parliament from a list of candidates presented almost exclusively by the ruling party.

Voters in Vietnam are casting their ballots to elect members of the National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body, which primarily serves to ratify decisions of the ruling Communist Party.

Nearly 93 percent of the 864 parliamentary candidates in Sunday’s election are members of the Communist Party, while 7.5 percent are independents, according to the national electoral council, up from 8.5 percent in 2021.

In five-year elections in the tightly controlled one-party state, more than 73 million voters will elect 500 members of the National Assembly and representatives of local councils.

The Communist Party, which has ruled the Southeast Asian nation of 100 million people unopposed for decades, holds 97 percent of parliamentary seats.

Voters expressed hope that their representatives would continue to modernize Vietnam, whose booming economy is undergoing major reforms introduced by top leader To Lam.

Red and yellow banners fluttered from streetlights and traffic lights in the capital, Hanoi, where well-dressed older people were some of the first to vote.

“I hope that the top leaders after these elections will make important changes to improve our country,” Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, told the AFP news agency at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi.

But in a country where important policies and projects are decided by high-level cadres, many citizens feel lukewarm about the elections. “I don’t think whoever wins will have any impact on my life,” said one woman, who identified herself as Huyen, in Hanoi.

Most polling stations are scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT), with results expected on March 23, parliament speaker Tran Thanh Man told local media.

The inaugural plenary session of the National Assembly is scheduled for early April, when lawmakers are expected to approve the state’s top leaders previously nominated by the party, including the president and prime minister.

The party confirmed Lam as its general secretary, Vietnam’s most powerful position, during its quinquennial congress in January, when it also selected the 19 members of the Politburo, its top decision-making body.

After voting Sunday morning in Hanoi, Lam said live on television that the election was aimed at “electing the most prestigious people to continue leading the country toward greater development.”

Nguyen Kim Chi, 18, a first-time voter, said he voted in the capital for “all the young” candidates.

“I know the top spots are already set,” he added, “but I still hope my votes count.”