Parliamentary elections were held in Vietnam on 22 May 2011.[1] Since Vietnam is a single-party state, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam was guaranteed to win a majority.[2]
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All 500 seats in the National Assembly 251 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 99.51% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Campaign
editAccording to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there were 827 candidates. 31.4% were women, 14.3% were not members of the Communist Party, 16.1% were members of ethnic minorities and 22.1% were candidates running for reelection.[3] Regardless of party standing, all candidates are evaluated by the Fatherland Front.[4]
Originally, 82 people were self-nominated, but of those only 15 were approved by party officials in order to run in the election.[5] However, Vietnam saw an increase of self-nominated candidates (82) in 2011 compared to 30 in 2007.[6] Some pro-democracy and human rights activists were a part of the self-nominated group, who did not receive the required approval. These included lawyers Le Quoc Quan, a former fellow for the National Endowment for Democracy and Cu Huy Ha Vu and Le Cong Dinh, both sentenced to jail for security and propaganda risks against the state.[7]
The 14 politburo seats were also up for election, though these elections were held in small electoral districts chosen by the party leaders. Thus, not all Vietnamese voters had a say in the politburo election decision.[8]
Results
editDuring the 2011 election, Vietnam had an estimated 62,200,000 registered voters and of those registered 61,900,000 ballots were reportedly cast.[9] Of the 500 members elected, 333 were first-time members and four were self-nominated. Almost all of them had at least a bachelor's degree; 15.6% were from ethnic minorities, 24.4% were women, and 8.4% were not members of the Communist Party.[10] Non-party members, who managed to gain a seat in the National Assembly, include brother and sister duo Dang Thanh Tam and Dang Thi Hoang Yen from Saigon Investment Group.[11]
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| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Communist Party of Vietnam | 454 | +4 | |||
| Non-party members | 42 | 0 | |||
| Independents | 4 | +3 | |||
| Total | 500 | +7 | |||
| Total votes | 61,965,651 | – | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 63,000,000 | 98.36 | |||
| Source: IPU | |||||
Aftermath
editFollowing the elections, on 25 July the new National Assembly elected Trương Tấn Sang as the new president, with 483 of the 496 National Assembly members voting for him.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Truong Sa residents cast early votes in legislative elections". Thanh Nien. May 20, 2011. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
- ^ Ian Timberlake (May 22, 2011). "One-party Vietnam votes in national election". AFP. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
- ^ "Vietnam holds National Assembly election - People's Daily Online".
- ^ Union, Inter-Parliamentary. "IPU Parline database: Viet Nam (Quoc-Hoi), Last elections". www.ipu.org. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ aujourd'hui, Vietnam (2011-05-23). "Vietnamese voters unmoved by election fanfare". blog.vietnam-aujourdhui.info (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
- ^ "Are Vietnam's elections becoming more democratic?". East Asia Forum. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
- ^ aujourd'hui, Vietnam (2011-05-23). "Vietnamese voters unmoved by election fanfare". blog.vietnam-aujourdhui.info (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ Ruwitch, John. "Party wins big in Vietnam, but with a few twists". Reuters Blogs. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ "IFES Election Guide | Elections: Vietnam Parl May 2011". www.electionguide.org. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ "500 legislators elected in Vietnam - People's Daily Online".
- ^ "Ballots, banners, but little budging". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
- ^ Truong Tan Sang elected Vietnamese state president Xinhua, 25 July 2011