Vietnam's 47 officials all win confidence votes

HANOI - Forty-seven officials have all won favorably in the first round confidence votes by Vietnam's 13th National Assembly (NA).

The confidence vote was held Monday afternoon in capital Hanoi, the first move ever undertaken by the Vietnamese legislature.

Officials who received the votes of confidence are holding positions that have been elected or approved by the National Assembly.

Results of the vote were announced at the NA's morning working session here on Tuesday by chief of the vote check-up team Do Van Chien.

Out of the total 492 votes, NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyen thi Kim Ngan won the most 372 "high confidence" votes, while State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh received the most 209 "low confidence" votes.

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang won 330 "high confidence" votes, 133 "confidence" votes, and 28 "low confidence" votes, while NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung received 328, 139 and 25 votes, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had 210, 122 and 160 votes, respectively.

The 492 Vietnamese legislators cast votes of confidence Monday afternoon for the first time on personnel elected or approved by the NA in accordance with the Resolution No. 35/2012/QH13 which was passed by 95.1 percent of approval at the 13th NA's fourth session in November, 2012.

According to the resolution, NA will hold annual confidence votes, allowing delegates to express "high confidence," " confidence" or "low confidence" in 49 officials from President, Prime Minister, NA Chairman, cabinet members to Supreme Court Judge and Chief State Auditor. However, at this first round confidence vote at the ongoing fifth session of the 13th NA held in capital Hanoi from May 20 to June 21, the newly-elected Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, and Chief State Auditor Nguyen Huu Van were excluded since they have not served long enough terms, so the voted list includes only 47 members.

Earlier, Vietnam's NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung made a report on the implementation of Resolution No. 35/2012/QH13, saying that the 47 officials submitted reports to the NA deputies offering a self-review of their work performance and the results achieved during their time in the position, in particular in the past year.

Accordingly, officials who receive over two-thirds of "low confidence" or two consecutive annual "low confidence" rating from more than half of the legislature will trigger a no-confidence vote at the next NA session, unless the related officials resign. What's more, those who fail in no-confidence votes will be asked to step down from their posts.

Since even the official receiving most "low confidence" votes, the State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh, holds 209 "low confidence" votes, which are less than 246, half of the total 492 votes, there will not be no-confidence vote against any of the voted incumbent officials.

The vote of confidence will also be conducted for members of people's councils and people's committees, including Chairmen of the People's Councils and Chairman of the People's Committee at the meeting of these bodies, which will be held after the NA session. For people's councils and people's committees, the vote of confidence will be conducted at provincial level, district level, and ward, communal or town level.