Vietnam's One-Party Election: New Leaders Set

0:00Global stories making news on March 15th. Tens of millions of Vietnamese voters headed to the polls on Sunday to pick 500 members for the National Assembly. Nearly 73 million registered voters also chose local council representatives. The candidates were almost all from the ruling Communist Party in this one party state. The party fielded 93% of the 864 candidates for parliament with just a small number of independence. That's down a bit from the last election. Currently, the party controls 97% of the seats. This assembly rarely challenges party decisions but sometimes tweaks laws. It mainly rubber stamps top leaders nominated by party bosses. Voter turnout has topped 99% in recent votes. In early April, the new parliament will open and approve key figures like the president and prime minister. To lamb, the party's general secretary and most powerful role is set to take the presidency too. That means he'll hold both top spots, similar to the setup in neighboring China.

1:02Prominent business leaders who were party members ran too, including the head of Vietnam's biggest bank and the chairman of a major tech firm. Officials plan to announce results on March 23rd. Thanks to our sponsor for supporting today's coverage. If sleep podcasts are your thing, this is your pillow. Build for comfort and calm. S-O-L-I-SOLY-PILLOW.COM