Vietnam elects 496 deputies to new parliament

As many as 496 deputies were elected to Vietnam's new parliament, the National Election Council (NEC) said on Thursday.

The new parliamentarians were chosen out of 870 candidates based on the results of the election in late May, the NEC said in a press conference.

On May 22, over 67.049 million voters out of around 67.485 million valid voters nationwide cast their ballots for election of deputies to the 14th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People's Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure.

Among the 496 newly-elected deputies, some 182 were nominated by central organizations, 312 were named by local authorities while the rest of 2 people were self-nominated.

Meanwhile, a total of 86 deputies are ethnic minorities and 133 are female. A total of 21 newly-elected deputies are not members of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), said the NEC.

General Secretary of the CPV Nguyen Phu Trong was elected as a deputy with 86.47 percent of valid votes in his election unit in Hanoi.

President Tran Dai Quang was elected as a deputy with 75.08 percent of valid votes in his election unit in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh city.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc became new NA deputy with 99.48 percent of valid votes in his election unit in northern Hai Phong city.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was a new deputy with 91.46 percent of valid votes in her election unit in southern Can Tho city.

The first session of the 14th NA is scheduled to convene in July when the NA Standing Committee and state leaders will be re-elected.

During the final session of the 13th NA, Vietnamese parliament replaced top leadership positions of the country.

On March 31, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan became the country's first NA chairwoman, while Tran Dai Quang was elected the new president on April 2, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected the new prime minister on April 7. Endit