Prominent events of Vietnamese National Assembly in 2018

ABO/NDO – Under the spirit of renovation, the Vietnamese National Assembly has promoted democracy and efficiency in its operation, leaving deep impressions on voters and people across the country in 2018. On the 73rd anniversary of the first general elections (January 6, 1946 – 2019), the Office of the National Assembly picked out seven prominent events of the parliament over the past year.

Party General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, sworn in as President of Vietnam at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 23. (Photo: NDO/Duy Linh)

1. National Assembly elects General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as President of Vietnam

On the morning of October 23, deputies of the 14th National Assembly elected Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, as the State President for the 2016-2021 tenure during their sixth session in Hanoi.

 

It was an important political event which met the aspiration and hope of voters and people across the country and attracted much attention from both the domestic and international public

Immediately after the result of the vote, the new President had a swearing-in ceremony at the NA hall.

 

The parliament adopted 16 laws in 2018 with high consensus. These are key laws which are designed to facilitate socio-economic development, step up the fight against corruption and wastefulness and enhance high-quality human resources training, while ensuring national defence and security, social order and safety.

 

They included th Law on Corruption Prevention and Control, the Law on People’s Public Security Forces, the Law on the Vietnam Coast Guards, the Law on amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education, and the Law on Protection of State Secrets, among others.

 

 

The 14th National Assembly passed resolution No. 72/2018/QH14 approving the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and related documents on the afternoon of November 12 with 100% of votes.

 

The NA assigns the Government to make adjustments and supplements on the relevant legal documents, thus ensuring the consistency of the legal system and maximising the role of the CPTPP in national socio-economic development, while realising Vietnam’s commitments under the CPTPP.

 

 

The Vietnamese parliament hosted the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) in Hanoi from January 18-21, under the theme of “Parliamentary partnership for Peace, Innovation and Sustainable Development”.

 

This was the second time that the Vietnamese NA hosted the APPF Annual Meeting, illustrating the role and responsibility of the Vietnamese NA in the forum.

 

The meeting, which attracted the participation of 22 parliamentarian delegations and 300 guests, adopted the Hanoi Declaration and 13 resolutions.

 

 

The 14th National Assembly conducted a vote of confidence on 48 officials holding positions elected and approved by the legislature during its sixth session in Hanoi.

 

The confidence vote was conducted to improve the effectiveness of the National Assembly's supervisory activities.

 

The result of the confident votes provided a “measurement” of the officials’ working performance, thus motivating those who earned a “high confidence” rating to make further contributions, while urging those scored the lowest confidence to overcome limitations and improve their efficiency at work.

 

 

A new regulation for question-&-answer activity was one of the key renovations towards efficiency in the NA’s operational methods in 2018

 

Accordingly, each NA deputy can have one minute to put forth a question, and after three questions, the Cabinet member has three minutes to answer. The change was designed to increase dialogue and face-to-face debate.

 

The session took place in a democratic, frank and responsible atmosphere, winning much attention and appreciation from voters and people across the country.

 

 

The National Assembly Standing Committee on October 4 promulgated a resolution on the pilot merger of the offices of the National Assembly deputies’ delegation, the People’s Council and People’s Committee at provincial level into a single one.

 

The pilot merger will be carried out in localities from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019.

The merge of the three offices aims to streamline the apparatus in centrally-run cities and provinces, while setting up a general assisting office for the National Assembly deputies’ delegation, and the People’s Council and People’s Committee at provincial level in order to improve the performance quality of these agencies.