Do not give up the right to vote because of temporary frustration.

Speaking to the press this morning ahead of the election of National Assembly and People's Council deputies, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan called on voters to go to the polls for their own future.

Recently in Ho Chi Minh City and some other cities, some people have taken advantage of environmental protection marches to incite and urge people not to vote on May 22. What do you think and what message do you have for voters nationwide?

We know that in our lives, everyone cares about their family, their hometown, their country. If there are events that affect people's lives and we do not feel upset, it is not normal. We are completely justified in worrying about people in difficult places, in places with natural disasters.

Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan. Photo: Hoang Long

However, elections only take place once every five years. Elections are a demonstration of citizens' right to choose someone to represent them in the leadership of the highest body, the National Assembly, and at the local level, the People's Councils at all levels.

We believe that we may have different feelings about the event, especially since there may be people who explain it from their own perspective, causing people to be upset. But we think that we should not give up our sacred right to choose the leaders of the country and the locality for the next 5 years because of being upset about something at the present time.

We affirm that the Party, the State, and authorities at all levels, including the Front, have continued to implement these concerns to ensure a better life for fishermen in the current situation. Fishermen in difficulty are never alone.

Recently, the Front, together with the Farmers' Association, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Youth Union, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and the Red Cross Society, have signed a coordination program to support fishermen in difficulty.

According to initial assessment, 12,500 fishing boats in the short term will not be able to go to sea, which will affect 60,000 workers. We have a program to support 10% of the most disadvantaged households. The government already has a support program. When they have health problems and cannot afford to go to the hospital, we will support health insurance.

For families where parents cannot go fishing and have no income in the short term, the Front and its member organizations will support children so they do not drop out of school.

More broadly, the drought and salinity situation is very urgent. On May 19, we signed a contract to support 10% for about 45,000 households with means to store domestic water and have water purification medicine when necessary. The Youth Union established 10 pilot water purification stations, filtering brackish water into fresh water with a capacity of 2,000 liters/day.

The drought-stricken people and struggling fishermen are not alone.

We may encounter short-term difficulties that require further consideration, but do not give up your right to choose the leader of your commune, district, province, city, and country for the next 5 years.

I call on you to vote for your own future.

Candidates are supervised in counting votes.

One issue that people are concerned about is how to ensure that the election results are objective and accurate. So how will the voting and vote counting process be carried out? Will people, the press or independent organizations be allowed to participate in monitoring the vote counting?

The Election Law stipulates that not only the election preparation process but also the election days, voting and vote counting stages are also monitored.

In addition to the supervision of election-related organizations such as the Front and its member organizations, individual candidates, their relatives, candidate-nominating agencies, and the press can also supervise the vote counting.

Vote counting is a very sensitive process, how to count correctly, not let others influence the vote counting. The Front has proposed to the National Election Council for detailed instructions on this content and we have commented on the draft. In the shortest time, in one or two days, the National Election Council will issue these instructions.

The supervision must ensure that the person who wants to supervise has the authority. If the candidate's name is already there, the organizations will know, but if someone else is supervising on behalf of the candidate, there must be a document authorizing the candidate to supervise on his behalf there.

Or if the agency that introduces the candidate has the right to supervise, the person being introduced must have a certificate from that agency. And reporters who want to supervise must also have a certificate confirming that they are legally operating reporters.

The supervision must not affect the voting process or the vote counting. If any irregularities are discovered, a record will be made on the spot and the person will have his/her opinion included in the record.

This is new content that contributes to ensuring objective democracy in accordance with the law in elections in Vietnam.

According to Vietnamnet.vn