Turnout nearly 100% in general elections

Localities across the
country have reported great turnout in elections for new members of 13th
tenure’s National Assembly and local People’s Councils on Sunday.

Elections Council
preliminary statistics showed four northern mountainous provinces of Lai Chau,
Ha Giang, Hoa Binh and Lang Son led the country with a voter turnout of 99.99
per cent.

Other provinces,
including Lao Cai, Hau Giang, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Dak Nong, also reported
a high proportion, up to 99.98 per cent.

Many among the 58
cities and provinces that finished counting the numbers of voters exceed 99 per
cent turnout.

Social security and
order were maintained in all localities during the voting day, the council said.

National Assembly
Deputy Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong hailed the elections as “successful”.

She also said the
votes were being counted “in an order as regulated by law” and “very carefully
with the highest responsibility”.

“The results will be
pronounced to the public as soon as counting is completed,” Phong said.

The Assembly will
convene its first session 60 days after the election. This year, it will be the
middle of July.

HCM City polls

As many as 99.81 per
cent of voters in HCM City turned out to voted, according to preliminary
estimates by the city’s election commission shortly after all the 2,673 polling
stations in the city closed at 7pm.

Cu Chi District
reported a 100 per cent turnout, the only district in the city to achieve the
distinction.

In total, almost 4.8
million city residents cast their votes, with female voters accounting for more
than half this number. About 16,000 voters were not permanent residents of the
city.

The election in the
city was successful, democratic, safe and law-abiding and held in a “jubilant
and exciting atmosphere,” remarked Pham Phuong Thao, chairwoman of the city’s
People’s Council and Election Commission.

Thao attributed the
success of this election to people’s involvement, good preparation and
organisation, and the maintenance of order and security.

The national elections
were the largest-ever so far with more than 62 million voters casting their
ballots to elect 500 NA deputies and over 300,000 People’s Council members at
all levels at 90,438 polling stations.

VN,
Korea to boost legal knowhow

Viet Nam wants the
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Viet Nam Television (VTV) to boost their
information co-operation, specifically to help improve public knowledge on legal
matters and cultures.

The request was made
by Minister and Chairman of Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a reception
for KBS President Kim In Kyu in Ha Noi yesterday, May 23.

Phuc highlighted the
importance of television channels to help resolve matters related to mixed
marriages between Vietnamese and Korean people, and finally to help enhance the
trust between the two nations.

KBS president said KBS
and VTV had reached some agreement on information exchange and collaboration in
reporting.

Also in Ha Noi
yesterday, Phuc received executive director of the Japan-Viet Nam Economic Forum
Bunshichi Fujioka.

Bunshichi expressed
his hope to speed up the construction of a science park in Viet Nam, which
includes education and training institutions and advanced science zones, to meet
the development demand from Viet Nam.

Phuc said Viet Nam
supported the idea but also noted the need to choose a suitable place to build
the park.

UK labour
unionists visit Ha Noi

The issue of how to
improve union capacity in labour negotiations topped a meeting between the Viet
Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and a delegation from British Trade
Union Friends of Viet Nam, held in Ha Noi yesterday

The VGCL was
represented by its vice president, Nguyen Hoa Binh, while his guests included
David Letcher, member of the executive committee of the Rail, Maritime and
Transport Workers; Gerald Keith Newson, member of the executive committee of the
Musicians’ Union; and James Macdonald, member of the Union of Construction,
Allied Trades and Technicians, all under the British General Confederation of
Trade Unions. They are also members of Trade Union Friends of Viet Nam in the
United Kingdom.

Cambodia Deputy PM meets Vietnamese AO delegation

Cambodian Prime
Minister Men Sam An received a delegation of the Vietnam Association of Victims
of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA) in Phnom Penh on May 23.
The Cambodian Deputy PM praised Vietnam ’s policies and VAVA’s activities in its
constant struggle to demand justice for Vietnamese AO victims.
Men Sam An, who is also President of the Cambodian Women for Peace and
Development (CWPD), was interested in VAVA’s information on the spraying of the
toxic substances by the US army on Cambodian land during the war, especially the
area near the border with Vietnam.
The Deputy PM said she will report the issue to her government in order to
conduct research into the impacts of AO on Cambodian people.
VAVA President Nguyen Van Rinh said that the fine relations between the two
countries create favourable conditions for the two peoples to jointly fight for
require for justice for AO victims in Vietnam and Cambodia.
VAVA also introduced some research projects on AO in Vietnam.
During their visit to Cambodia from May 23-26, the delegation is scheduled to
meet with the ministers of social affairs and vocational training and
environment.

VNN/VN+/VNS