Vietnam named a woman for the first time to the influential role of chairperson in its National Assembly today – the country’s fourth most powerful position. Veteran lawmaker and senior Communist Party official Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was elected with 95.5 per cent of votes after a poll in the country’s 500-strong legislative body early today, state-run VTV said.
Her appointment means she is the highest ranking female party official. The majority of Communist Party officials are men, but women are reasonably well represented in the ranks, with around 25 per cent of National Assembly delegates being female.
Vietnam is in the midst of a leadership handover after the country’s top communist leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, was reelected as party secretary general in January in a victory for the party’s old guard.