Key State positions to be elected at 13th parliament’s last meeting

Hanoi (VNA) – Leading State positions, including the President, Prime Minister and National Assembly (NA) Chairman, are scheduled to be elected at the approaching 11th meeting of the 13th tenure parliament, NA Secretary-General Nguyen Hanh Phuc said at an international press conference in Hanoi on March 18.

Some new Government members will also be voted on during the 13th NA’s last meeting from March 21 to April 12, he noted, adding that deputies will spend 10 and a half days considering and making decisions on the State personnel issue.

Phuc, who is also the Chairman of the NA Office, elaborated that at the 12th National Party Congress in late January, many State officials were not elected to the new Party Central Committee. The election of new officials is to expeditiously implement the congress’s resolution.

He noted that the first session of the 14th NA will continue to elect State personnel for the 14th tenure in line with the law, explaining that while the tenure for the leading positions is five years, the NA can still exercise its right to remove the personnel under the Law on the Organisation of the National Assembly.

The last session of the 13th NA will also spend time reviewing the five-year performance of State, NA and Government agencies.

Additionally, the legislature is expected to scrutinise and approve the draft law on information access; the revised law on signing, joining and implementing international treaties; the revised press law; the revised law on child protection, care and education; the revised law on pharmaceuticals; and the revised law on export and import duties. The agenda also includes a draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the laws on value added tax, special consumption tax and tax management.

Ten sessions of the 11th meeting will be broadcast live on television and radio, Phuc said.

Responding to a question about the draft law on demonstration not included in the agenda, he said the Government discussed this draft and recorded great differences in viewpoints on some major issues. It needs more time to appraise and will submit the draft law to the NA when the drafting is finished.

Also at the press conference, he reiterated that there is no discrimination between nominated and self-nominated candidates at the May election of deputies to the 14th NA and all-level People’s Councils for the 2016 – 2021 term. All of them are being treated equally during the preparation for the election, he stressed.-VNA