HANOI: Voters in Vietnam cast their ballots on Sunday for members of the National Assembly, the country’s top legislative body that serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party.
The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting eight percent growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics.
Out of 864 candidates for the 500-seat parliament, only 65 are not members of the Communist Party — down from 74 in the last vote five years ago.
Patriotic red-and-yellow banners fluttered from lampposts and traffic lights in the capital Hanoi while on social media, many users posted photos of their voting certificates, showing they had upheld their civic duty.
But in a country where major policies and projects are decided by senior cadres, many citizens feel lukewarm about going to the polls.
“These elections have been the same for years. I don’t know so much about those who I voted for,” grocery store employee Nguyen Thi Huong said in Hanoi.
“But who cares. I think they have higher education now so they will do something good for the country and for the people,” the 52-year-old added.
State media said more than 99 percent of 79 million eligible voters had cast their ballots as of Sunday evening — a typically high official turnout.
Polling stations were scheduled to officially close at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT), with results not expected for at least a week.
Among the new parliament’s first tasks when it sits next month will be to confirm senior leaders already selected by the party at its twice-a-decade congress in January.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.