[Photo essay] Four Vietnam top leaders cast their ballots

Minh Vu

May 23, 2021 / 01:10 PM

This is an election with the largest turnout in Vietnam’s national suffrage over the past 75 years.

Four top leaders of Vietnam went to the polls in the early morning Sunday [May 23] in different parts of the country to elect deputies of the National Assembly (NA) and members of the People’s Council at all levels for the 2021-2026 term.

Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong casts his ballot. Photos: VNA/VnExpress/Laodong

Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong who is also Secretary of the Central Military Commission cast his ballot at a polling station in Hanoi.

At 7:00 am, he voted at a polling place in Nguyen Du ward, Hai Ba Trung district. Trong is among the first voters there together with Hoang Thanh Tuyen, 90, nun Thich Dam Linh, and Hoang Tuyen Minh, 19.

Answering questions raised by domestic and foreign reporters after casting his ballot, Trong said he expected that elected candidates will fulfill their obligations stipulated in the Constitution to be absolutely loyal to the fatherland, devoting for the people and the country.

Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong went to polling station.

“Being representatives of the people, it is necessary to regularly cultivate themselves to listen to the voters and the people in order to fulfill his/her tasks entrusted by balloters and people in the most effective way,” he added.

Trong noted that this is the 15th national election and the one with the biggest turnout so far with nearly 70 million voters to elect 500 NA members, nearly 4,000 members of the People’s Council at all levels, and 24,000 members of the People’s Council at the grassroots level.

He emphasized that each citizen, once being aware of his/her rights and obligations, will select qualified candidates.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife at the polling place in Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets voters.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the voting in Can Tho.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a polling station in Can Tho.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh cast vote in Cai Khe ward, Ninh Kieu district in the southwestern city of Can Tho. This city has 951,000 voters.

This is the first time a Vietnamese prime minister runs for the NA member in the Mekong Delta. Chinh’s predecessors Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Nguyen Tan Dung were both representatives of Haiphong at the NA.