English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
Other selected indicators, such as sharing of household responsibilities and addressing
stereotyping, are placed at discussions on Articles 5 and 16 of CEDAW respectively.
V.5.3 RELEVANT LEGAL PROVISIONS
Indicator 53
Indicator 54
Is the equal right to vote guaranteed by the Constitution or law
Is there equal eligibility for election for all publicly elected bodies
Indicator 55 Are there legislative provisions for temporary special measures,
especially minimum quotas of women in elections at all levels
Does legislature clearly specify measure to support the quotas
Right to vote and the right to stand for election
In addition to a general guarantee in Article 63 of the Constitution that male and female citizens
have equal rights in the political field, Article 54 of the Constitution guarantees equal
rights to vote and be voted on: “The citizen, regardless, of nationality, sex, social background,
religious belief, cultural standard, occupation, time of residence shall, upon reaching the age
of eighteen, have the right to vote, and upon reaching the age of twenty one, have the right to
stand for election to the National Assembly and the People’s Councils in accordance with the
provisions of the law.” This is restated in Article 2 of the Law on Election of the Deputies of the
National Assembly (1997) as amended by Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of
Articles of the Law on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly, No. 31/2001/QH10 of
December 25, 2001 (Law on Election to National Assembly 1997), as well as in Article 2 of the
Law on Election to People’s Councils.
Article 11 of the Law on Gender Equality also specifically emphasizes the equal rights
of men and women in relation to nominations or self-nomination of candidates to the National
Assembly and People’s Council, as well as to agencies of political organizations, socio-political
organizations, socio-political and professional organizations, social organizations, social
and professional organizations. Those who impede this are subject to the applicable administrative
or penal sanctions. 343
In addition to a general guarantee of women’s right to be voted on as candidates to be
deputies of the National Assembly and People’s Committees, the following particular laws provide
for proportion of women in elected positions.
First, the Law on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly, No. 31/2001/QH10 of
December 25, 2001 (Law on Election to National Assembly 2001) was passed in 2001 and
Article 10(a) provided: “The number of female National Assembly deputies shall be proposed
by the National Assembly Standing Committee at the suggestion of the Presidium of VWU [Viet
Nam Women’s Union] Central Committee, thus ensuring that the number of female deputies
is appropriate”. Earlier, the Law on Election to National Assembly 1997 provided that the number
of ethnic minority National Assembly deputies will be proposed by the Standing Committee
at the suggestion of the Council of Ethnic Minorities of the National Assembly to ensure that
the appropriate number of different ethnic minorities is in the National Assembly. 344 It also pro-
175
343
Law on Gender Equality, Articles 40(1)(a) and 42
344
Law on Election to National Assembly 1997, Article 10
Political and public life (Articles 7 and 8 of CEDAW)