arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

NA election through foreign eyes

The list of candidates running for the eleventh National Assembly election reflected a wider social representation, United Nations Resident Co-ordinator Jordan Ryan has said.

He made the comment during an interview on the May 19 National Assembly election of Viet Nam.

The candidates list included a number of new comers, Mr Ryan said, adding that many of the candidates have obtained tertiary education degrees while female and non-Party member candidates made up higher proportions compared
to previous elections.

The UN official expressed his belief that the candidates to the eleventh NA will be better qualified than previous tenures, capable of carrying out the tasks and responsibilities assigned to them by the people.

For Shamshin Andrey Betrovist, chief of the Russian RIA Novosti news agency Hanoi bureau, the democratic process of selecting candidates for the election of deputies to the eleventh NA was genuine evidence of the country's stability and steady development.

Mr Shamshin, who has been working in Vietnam for almost 15 years, noted that preparations for the eleventh NA election were carried out in a more active and prudent way than previous elections. He added pre-election meetings between candidates and voters drew increasing social attention.

Felix Albisur, head of the Prensa Latina bureau in Vietnam, said that he paid special attention to the National Assembly election day, May 19, when all voters exercised the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Almost all voters cast their votes early on the morning of May 19. In some polling stations in Hai Ba Trung district, all voters went to the polls and voted for the worthiest representatives to the 11th legislature by 11am, Mr Felix Albisur noted.

He spoke highly of good preparations and decorations of the polling stations. He was also impressed by the voters' careful election of qualified National Assembly deputies.

Chuck Searcy, a representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the Asian Landmine Solution Company, said that voting for the eleventh National Assembly election was conducted in a very serious manner.

All Vietnamese citizens actively took part in the election which was described as a special activity of the whole community.

He stressed that during elections in Vietnam, more than 90% of voters cast their votes, a high rate when compared to that in any other democratic country in the world

The American veteran said he believed that the United States could draw lessons from the exercise of democracy in Vietnam. He said that the Vietnamese government has encouraged people to give opinions to the country's decisive policies. The Vietnamese have many opportunities to take part in self-nomination and election, Mr Chuck Searcy noted. He also expressed his confidence in the success of the election. (VNA)