Vietnam Vote Likely to Bring Younger Leaders

Vietnamese voted for national lawmakers Sunday in elections that are expected to start a swing toward a younger generation of Communist leaders.

All 450 seats of the National Assembly were being filled. Ballots were being counted by hand, and final results were expected to be announced in a week.

The vote probably will give the National Assembly a younger face. Only a fifth of the outgoing members sought reelection.

Last month, Vietnam’s top three leaders--President Le Duc Anh, Premier Vo Van Kiet and Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi, all in their 70s and 80s--announced that they were stepping down to make way for new leadership.

The new leaders will come from parliamentary ranks once the National Assembly convenes in September.

Although more than 80% of candidates represented the ruling Communist Party, voters were able to choose among workers, union representatives, educators and others who were nominated by state-backed organizations or ran as independents.

“I want to choose people who are talented so that they can help improve our life,” said Nguyen Van Ha, a 38-year-old voter in Luu Phai, a village outside Hanoi.

Ha and other villagers said they based their choices on the brief resumes of each candidate that were displayed outside the polling station.

The vote is not expected to bring many dramatic changes, though observers say the passing of the old guard may instill more vigor into the political system and allow for some independent voices to emerge within the party structure.