Vietnam parliamentary elections starts

Hanoi, May 22: Over 69 million voters across Vietnam on Sunday are casting their ballots in the parliamentary elections.

The election, which elects deputies to the 14th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People's Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure, started at 7.00 a.m., at 91,476 polling stations across the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

As many as 500 deputies will be elected to the 14th NA out of 870 candidates.

Out of the 500, 339 candidates are female, accounting for 38 97 percent while 204 candidates are from ethnic minorities, making up 23.45 percent, according to the list of candidates released by the National Election Council (NEC) in April.

The voting will end at 7.00 p.m.

The result will be announced within 20 days, the NEC said on Friday.

The first session of the 14th NA is scheduled to convene in July when the NA Standing Committee and state leaders will be re-elected.

During the final session of the 13th NA, Vietnamese parliament replaced top leadership positions of the country.

On March 31, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan became the country's first NA chairwoman, while Tran Dai Quang was elected the new President on April 2, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected the country's new prime minister on April 7.

IANS