The 50-year journey of the Vietnamese National Assembly: From the first general election to the modern parliament

From the 1946 vote to the 2026 Digital National Assembly

From the milestone of January 6, 1945, the first general election to elect the National Assembly of Vietnam marked a brilliant milestone after the success of the August Revolution in 1945. During its 14 years of operation (1946 - 1960), the First National Assembly held 12 sessions, passing the 1946 Constitution and the 1959, along with 16 laws and 50 important resolutions.

The National Assembly terms from term II to term V passed many important laws and resolutions on economics, foreign affairs and administrative organization, ensuring the strength to win the war, contributing to the victory of the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975, liberating the South and unifying the country.

In particular, the 6th National Assembly (1976 - 1981) was the National Assembly of Vietnam that unanimously decided to change the country's name to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), stipulating the National Flag, National emblem, and National Anthem, renaming Saigon - Gia Dinh city as Ho Chi Minh City, and stipulating the capital of the unified Vietnam as Hanoi. At the 7th Session (December 1980), the 6th National Assembly approved the new Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam - the 1980 Constitution.

The 7th National Assembly (1981 - 1987) and the 8th National Assembly (1987 - 1992) passed 2 laws, 35 laws, 35 resolutions and the State Council issued 54 Ordinance. In particular, the 8th National Assembly is the National Assembly of the early stages of the country's comprehensive innovation. At the 11th Session 1992), the National Assembly passed the 1992 Constitution.

In the next phase, the 9th National Assembly to the 14th National Assembly will continue to have many strong innovations in legislative work, supervision and decision-making on important issues, passing many important laws, creating a foundation for the country's socio-economic development.

In particular, the 15th National Assembly (2021 - 2026) was elected with the highest percentage of voters participating in the vote ever (99.6%). Legislative work has been implemented in the spirit of " proactive legislation", achieving many important results, focusing on amending related laws to serve the streamlining of the political system apparatus. At the 9th Session (June 16, 2025), the 15th National Assembly approved the amendment and supplementation of the 2013 Constitution.

In a summary report on the work of the 15th National Assembly term at the 10th Session, Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man affirmed: The 15th National Assembly is a special term, operating in the context of facing many challenges, complex global epidemics, natural disasters, fierce climate change, and unpredictable political and economic situation in the world. The workload has increased many times compared to previous terms, with many important problems, many new and complicated contents that are unprecedented.

In that situation, the National Assembly affirmed its role as the highest State power body, the highest representative body of the People, demonstrating its mettle, intelligence, innovation, improving professionalism, publicity, transparency, democracy, efficiency, performing well the functions of constitution-making, legislative making, supreme supervision and deciding on important issues of the country, as well as parliamentary diplomacy activities, leaving many outstanding marks.

Democratic, modern, professional and truly for the people National Assembly

Since the first General Election, through the periods up to now, the National Assembly has become more and more professional and modern. Today's Parliament is a gathering place for voters' voices, reflecting the breath of life and the expectations of the people in the process of building and defending the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office Le Thu Ha shared that the 80th anniversary of the first General Election to elect the National Assembly of Vietnam is a special milestone for the National Assembly.

Looking back at 80 years of formation and development, I deeply feel that the Vietnamese National Assembly not only develops and matures with the country, but also plays a central role in the renovation process. From 5 Constitutions, hundreds of laws, thousands of resolutions to important decisions of strategic significance, all are the crystallization of collective intelligence and the dedication and commitment of many generations of National Assembly deputies - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Office shared.

Looking back at the 50-year journey of the Vietnamese National Assembly, we can see that the value of democracy today has been forged and developed since the early days, after the August Revolution. In addition to the basic functions of deciding on the country's important issues, such as deciding on the constitution, making laws, supervising and deciding on important issues of the country, an increasingly important activity of the Vietnamese National Assembly in the context of integration is the National Assembly's foreign affairs activities.

The mark over the past 80 years has been the National Assembly of the people, by the people and for the people, the National Assembly expresses the will, aspirations and affection of the people, always carrying the breath of the people, the breath of life. Those values are all developed on the basis of inheriting President Ho Chi Minh's ideology of the National Assembly; inheriting the democratic values of the first general election to elect the National Assembly of Vietnam" - Vice Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Ta Van Ha shared.

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