Vietnam's first general election 70 years ago "great advance in democracy": party chief

The first general election held 70 years ago marked an important event in the history of Vietnam and a great advance in democracy, opened up a new era of development of Vietnam, said Vietnamese party chief Nguyen Phu Trong on Wednesday.

Addressing a ceremony held in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Wednesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the first general election of Vietnam, Trong said 70 years ago, the country not only gained independence, but also had an agency to represent the people's will, aspiration and ownership.

During the past 70 years, the country's National Assembly (NA) has been continuously growing to effectively execute the functions and power regulated by the Constitution and legal documents, Trong said, adding the NA is the embodiment of the national unity and is the highest representative body of the people, highest state power body of the country.

Nguyen Sinh Hung, Chairman of the 13th NA of Vietnam, for his part, said the NA will continue renovating its organization and activities to meet the increasing requirement of the country's development and the expectation of the people.

At the first general election of Vietnam in 1946, as many as 89 percent of Vietnamese eligible voters nationwide went to the polls to elect 333 representatives to the National Assembly, Hung said at a recent interview with Vietnam's state-run news agency.

In the 70 years, the Vietnam's NA has gone through 13 tenures. Enditem