National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính at the Saturday briefing meeting on the preparations for 15th-tenure National Assembly's first session. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The first session of the newly elected 15th-tenure National Assembly (NA) is scheduled to take place from July 20 to July 31, heard a briefing meeting in Hà Nội on Saturday.

The session, which was originally scheduled to wrap up on August 5, will be shortened due to serious COVID-19 outbreaks in several localities of the country, as agreed by the NA’s Party delegation and the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Government.

NA committees and concerned agencies will work on Saturdays and after 5pm to serve the session, they said.

According to NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ, Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng will deliver a speech at the opening session of the sitting.

Legislators will consider and make decisions on the personnel work towards positions elected by the NA, and approve high-ranking positions in the Government, the legislature, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the State Audit Office of Việt Nam, he said.

They will also look into a draft resolution on the law and ordinance building programme for 2022, and adjustments to the law and ordinance building programme for 2021.

Hue said the lawmakers will decide the NA’s supervision programme and the establishment of a thematic supervising delegation for 2022, while mulling over the Government’s reports on socio-economic development and state budget in the first half of this year, and solutions to realise relevant plans in the second half, among others.

The National Election Council will present a report reviewing outcomes of the elections of deputies to the 15th NA and all-level People’s Councils for 2021-26, as well as the verification of the eligibility of NA deputies.

The Việt Nam Fatherland Front’s Central Committee will deliver to the plenary session another report on the collected opinions of voters and people.

Huệ stressed the need to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control measures during the upcoming meeting in line with instructions of the Government and the Ministry of Health.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính expressed his hope that the first session will be a success.  

He highlighted achievements Việt Nam has recorded in building the Party, the rule-of-law socialist State and the political system, and maintaining national sovereignty.

Deputies and the staff serving the first session will be twice subjected to COVID-19 tests – a week before the opening, and another 1-2 days before the opening.

Delegates and guests from the outbreak-hit regions that are under social distancing order (Directive 15 and 16) would additionally be tested every three days during the session, stay at separate hotels, travel using separate vehicles, enter the NA hall via a separate route and sit in a separate section.

About 435 NA deputies, or 87 per cent, have been given at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot.

The Ministry of Health will also install coronavirus breathalysers at the meeting's venue. — VNS