Vietnam’s general elections grab international media’s attention

Vietnam’s general elections have grabbed attention of global and regional media outlets which highlighted the event’s importance to the country, the special circumstances of the elections and the role of the new legislature to the national development.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong casts his vote to select deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Council at all levels for the 2021 - 2026 tenure on May 23.

Laos’ LaoPhatthana News, Malaysia’s The Star and New Straits Times, China’s Xinhua, Japan’s Nikkei Asia and NHK, UK’s Reuters, among others, reported that the elections took place as Vietnam battles a severe COVID-19 resurgence, so it was a major challenge to secure a safe and smooth event.

“The election this year takes place amid the complicated development of COVID-19 in the country,” Xinhua said. “Authorities have asked voters to strictly follow COVID-19 prevention and control protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing at polling stations,” it reported.

Nikkei Asia quoted Ha Hoang Hop, a visiting senior fellow at Singaporean research group ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, as saying that the Vietnamese government has enforced stricter prevention measures at all voting sites, as the current COVID-19 situation are complicated and uncertain.

The elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People’s Councils of all levels for the 2021-26 tenure was an important political event in Vietnam, which had been organized in a very professional manner and conducted without any blemish, reported eurasiareview.com, adding that Vietnamese people willingly cooperated with the organisers without any raucous.

The site said to ensure the success of the elections and minimise impacts from the pandemic, the National Election Council (NEC) has issued a number of documents directing and guiding how to safely conduct the elections, including those instructing the making of voter lists and voting methods for voters undertaking quarantine in pandemic-hit areas.

It went on to underline Vietnam’s 35 years of development process, saying its achievements in economy, foreign policy and defence-security domains inject a sense of confidence to cope with the current difficulties and challenges triggered by external factors.

“In the light of this, sound election preparation is a further extension of people’s aspirations to scale new heights in the development process,” the website wrote.

“For the forthcoming elections, the credentials of the candidates have been evaluated and those found to be deserving delegates are put in the fray,” it continued. “This is also an affirmation of Vietnam’s achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party in all fields, especially economy and epidemic prevention.”

The website said in the foreign policy domain, the party has demonstrated an independent stance, which has enabled the government to achieve outstandingly in many bilateral as well as regional issues, thereby enhancing the country’s standing before the global community./.

VNA