There have been seven extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly, perhaps a record ever, with mainly personnel meetings lasting only half a day and the majority in agreement with the Politburo. Each of these unusual sessions costs travel, accommodation, and meetings to produce results that everyone knows, but it probably costs billions of dollars.
Never before has the National Assembly or even the agency’s Standing Committee made any decision contrary to the Politburo. So this wasteful procedural meeting is even more ridiculous. There should have been some way to have an online meeting, press the online button, because we don’t know the outcome anyway. The difference is whether it’s the person counting the votes or the machine operator pushing the buttons!
This unusual meeting was even more odd when it produced a result below expectations, announcing Tran Thanh Man as the “acting” chairman of the National Assembly. The public is looking forward to having a new Chairman of the National Assembly and President of the country. Since Mr. Man is the permanent vice president, he will naturally become acting president, so there is no need to vote.
There should be an implicit regulation so that the standing deputy automatically replaces the head and has the right to handle the standing position, as in other state agencies.
This meeting is strange because the official National Assembly session will take place on May 20, if it does not fall on a holiday. That is, after 18 days, there will probably be another election to “consolidate” the positions of president and chairman of the National Assembly. But that shows that these positions may still be under “negotiation”.
Who knows, maybe there will be another extraordinary meeting to discuss personnel, because there are still two posts that have not asked for leave yet!?
Duong Quoc Chinh