Vietnam parliament convenes sitting with vote on new chair, State president

The Vietnamese parliament started its regular seventh plenum on Monday, kicking off a process to elect a new speaker and a State president after the two positions became vacant as the anti-bribery campaign gains momentum.

The National Assembly (NA) will elect a new chair first and then the president in the next two days.

The Party Central Committee last week reached “a high consensus” in proposing Standing Vice Chairman of the NA Tran Thanh Man, and Minister of Public Security To Lam for the two respective vacancies. Both are members of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country.

At a press meeting on Sunday, Secretary of the NA Bui Van Cuong said the ongoing NA session will not relieve To Lam from his current position as competent authorities have not proposed a nominee to succeed him.

If elected, To Lam will be both State president and chief of police until a succession plan at the ministry is agreed on.

In addition, the NA will not elect a new NA vice chairman until the Politburo and the PCC give the green light.

Vo Van Thuong stepped down on March 21 after one year in office as State president, while Vuong Dinh Hue left his role as NA chair on May 2 for unspecified wrongdoing.

The seventh NA gathering will last 27 days, divided in two sessions: May 20-June 8 and June 17-28. Lawmakers are expected to pass 10 laws, including the revised Social Insurance Law, Road Law, Road Traffic Order and Safety Law, amended Capital Law, revised Law on Asset Auctions, and the revised Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Support Tools (fast-track procedure).

They will also give their first opinions on a host of bills.

The NA is scheduled to spend 2.5 days on questions and answers on four main sectors that will be decided by parliamentarians later. The potential issues to be grilled include natural resources-environment, auditing, industry and trade, culture-sports-tourism, and education-training.