Vietnam aims to increase the number of ethic minority deputies at the 14th National Assembly (NA) so that the assembly has appropriate representation from all social strata. Ethnic minorities have been encouraged to participate in the NA during recent tenures. The rate of parliamentarians from ethnic minorities was 17.33% of the 450 deputies in the 10th NA, 17.27% of the 498 deputies in the 11th term, and 17.6% of the 493 deputies in the following NA. In the 13th NA, 15.5% of the 500 parliamentarians were ethnic minorities. Lu Van Que, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s Advisory Council on Ethnic Minorities, said the rate of ethnic minority deputies in people-elected agencies during recent tenures had been higher than the ratio of ethnics to Kinh people. He admitted that some ethnic minorities have never been represented in the NA, and it is necessary to increase the number of ethnic minority deputies in parliament to ensure equality among ethnic groups. The 13th NA Standing Committee targets at least 162 candidates or 18% of those nominated for seats in the 14th NA coming from ethnic minorities. It looks to have at least 90 ethnic minority deputies or 18% of the total number in the new parliament, which will be elected on May 22. There are 204 ethnic minority people among the 870 NA deputy candidates, accounting for 23.45%, according to NA Secretary-General and member of the National Election Council Nguyen Hanh Phuc. However, there remain difficulties in reaching the targeted number of ethnic minority deputies. Hoang Quoc Khanh is a Giay ethnic resident in Lai Chau province. This is the first time he has run for parliament. He said though he has been helped to participate in training courses, it is still difficult for ethnic minority candidates in mountainous areas like him to acquire canvassing skills and build action plans. Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of the NA’s Council for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said to assist minority candidates, the council opened training classes in late April to provide electioneering skills for those in northern and southern provinces. They are nominees for the 14th NA and all-level People’s Councils in the 2016 – 2021 tenure. Vietnam is a multi-nationality with 54 ethnic groups. Among them, the Viet (Kinh) people account for 86.83% of the country’s population. (en.vietnamplus.vn May 13)
