Vietnam defense minister, parliament chair best performers in mid-term confidence poll

Minister of Defense Phan Van Giang and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue won the highest number of “high confidence” votes in a parliamentary poll held Wednesday morning.

Giang and Hue polled 448 and 437 “high confidence” votes, respectively.

The results of a secret ballot for 44 officials elected or approved by the National Assembly (NA), the country's highest-level legislative body, were published online in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received 373 “high confidence” votes, 90 “confidence” votes and 17 “low confidence” votes.

The corresponding numbers for Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, in charge of general economic issues, were 384, 90 and six, respectively, and Minister of Public Security To Lam 329, 109, and 43.

Three cabinet members – Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung and Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat – were the worst performers at the poll given their lowest number of “high confidence” votes.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son had the highest number of “low confidence” votes with 72, followed by Minister of Science and Technology Dat with 71.

The 44 officials subject to the confidence vote included the vice state president, the chairperson and vice chairpersons of the NA, heads of the NA's Standing Committee, the NA secretary general, the prime minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, other members of the government, the chief justice of the Supreme People’s Court, the prosecutor general of the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the auditor general of the State Audit Office.

Officials about to retire or elected the same year as the poll were exempted. These included President Vo Van Thuong, Deputy Prime Ministers Tran Hong Ha and Tran Luu Quang, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Dang Quoc Khanh, and Chairman of the Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs Le Quang Manh, all appointed earlier this year.

According to an NA resolution, the results will be a factor in assessing capabilities of the officials and deciding to appoint them for other positions or dismiss them.

If an official’s “low confidence” votes amount to two-thirds of the total, he/she would be recommended for dismissal from the post. If over half to two-thirds of the votes are “low confidence”, he/she may be asked to resign.

Before Wednesday, the NA had held confidence votes three times: in June 2013, November 2014 and October 2018.