HANOI — Mask-wearing Vietnamese went to the polls on Sunday, with tens of millions expected to select a largely rubber-stamp legislature amid a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak.
Fewer independent candidates than before are standing in the election for the 500-seat National Assembly, which is held every five years and usually after the ruling Communist Party holds its congress to select a new leadership.
Despite increasing openness to social change in the Southeast Asia nation and a plethora of free trade deals, the Communist Party – one of the last ruling communist parties in the world – retains tight control over Vietnam and its media, and tolerates little dissent.
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Keep on reading: Vietnam holds parliament election amid new COVID-19 outbreak