The National Election Council on the afternoon of March 21 held a press conference to announce its resolution on the election results and the list of elected deputies to the 16th National Assembly.

Nguyen Huu Dong, Head of the Committee for Deputy Affairs and a member of the National Election Council, said a total of 500 deputies were elected from 863 candidates. Among those nominated by central agencies and organizations, 214 candidates were elected while two were not.

The results indicate a shift in the structure of the new legislature, with a reduction in deputies concurrently holding positions in executive and judicial bodies, and an increase in full-time lawmakers. The proportion of full-time deputies is expected to reach 40 percent - the highest level ever recorded, up 1.4 percentage points compared to the 15th term, 5.5 points compared to the 14th, 7.2 points compared to the 13th, and 10.6 points compared to the 12th.

For the first time in 16 terms, the success rate of candidates nominated by central authorities to run in local constituencies reached its highest level, with 214 out of 216 candidates elected. Notably, 100 percent of those expected to serve as full-time deputies were elected.

Dong also noted that the new National Assembly includes, for the first time, a representative from the O Du ethnic group - one of the smallest ethnic communities in Vietnam. The proportion of female deputies remains high at 30 percent.

At the local level, elections also filled all 2,552 seats in provincial People’s Councils and 72,437 seats at the commune level.

Regarding re-elected deputies, 230 members of the 15th National Assembly secured seats again in the 16th term. In addition, 17 deputies from earlier terms (11th to 14th) returned, bringing the total number of experienced lawmakers to 247. Meanwhile, 253 deputies are serving for the first time.

In terms of qualifications, 593 candidates held postgraduate degrees (68.63 percent), 261 had university degrees (30.21 percent), and only 10 had qualifications below university level. Based on these figures, Dong emphasized that the overall quality of elected deputies is expected to be high, with representation of youth, ethnic minorities and women maintained or improved compared to the previous term.

“We hope that with higher-quality deputies, legislative work, oversight and decision-making on major national issues will continue to improve,” he said.

Responding to questions about self-nominated candidates, Dong confirmed that all five failed to secure enough votes to be elected.

“It is regrettable that none of the five self-nominated candidates received sufficient votes,” he said, noting that in previous terms, one or two such candidates had been elected and performed effectively.

According to the official results, there are 150 female deputies (30 percent), 76 deputies from ethnic minority groups (15.2 percent), and 18 non-party members (3.6 percent), an increase of about four compared to the previous term.

The number of young deputies under 40 stands at 33 (6.6 percent), lower than expectations.

Regarding education levels, 418 deputies hold postgraduate degrees (83.6 percent), 80 have university degrees (16 percent), and two are below university level (0.4 percent).

With such a high level of education, Dong expressed confidence that younger deputies will quickly adapt to parliamentary work, contribute to lawmaking and fulfill their commitments to voters. He added that in previous terms, many young deputies, after serving two or three terms, advanced to positions such as deputy ministers and ministers.

Tran Thuong - Thu Hang