Localities nationwide yesterday held the third round of consultative conferences to set the final lists of candidates running for the upcoming elections for the 13th National Assembly deputies and 8th People’s Council deputies for the period of 2011-16.

Delegates at the consultative conference held by the Presidium of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee adopted an official list of 182 candidates in the NA election, nominated by centrally-run agencies and organisations.

Addressing the conference, NA Vice chairwoman Tong Thi Phong praised the efforts made by the committee in organising the consultative conferences to introduce candidates for the upcoming elections.

Phong, who is doubled as Party Central Committee Secretary, stressed that there were many things that still needed to be done, including the compiling of lists of candidates for different constituencies and creating conditions for candidates to meet voters.

At its third consultative conference, Ha Noi agreed to officially introduce 40 candidates for the NA election. Women account for 37.5 per cent and young people make up 15 per cent on the proposed list.

HCM City also announced a short-list of 41 candidates for the elections.

Nine of them are not members of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

They include 12 women and two belonging to ethnic minorities. Twenty are post-graduates while the rest have university degrees. Three are aged below 35.

Actress Pham Thi Hong Aùnh, 34, was among 22 candidates who were nominated unanimously.

Four of the candidates are self-nominated but all received between 55 and 100 per cent of votes at the meeting.

With 11 others nominated at the central level, the total number of candidates who will contest to represent HCM City is 52.

The northern province of Nam Dinh officially introduced 12 candidates for the NA election. Among the candidates, women account for 50 per cent; non-Party members 16.6 per cent; young people 25 per cent and Catholic followers, 8.3 per cent.

The province also introduced 107 candidates for the People’s Council election.

The northern mountainous province of Bac Kan introduced eight candidates for the NA election. In terms of structure, three candidates are female and six candidates from ethnic minority groups of Tay, Dao and Nung were short listed.

The northern province of Bac Giang agreed to introduce ten candidates for the NA election, of which ethnic minority candidates account for 20 per cent; young people, 40 per cent; non-Party candidates, 20 per cent and women, 40 per cent.

It also adopted a list of 127 candidates for the People’s Council election.

Source: VNS