CORRESPONDENCE - 85A COMBINED REPORTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM 2012

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VIETNAM 28 property ownership, comparable access to education, and public medical care. In July 2010 the first group of 287 individuals received Vietnamese citizenship as part of a joint UNHCR- government effort to survey and naturalize these stateless individuals. The naturalization applications for the approximately 1,800 remaining were submitted to the president's office for final approval, but no action was reported at year's end. The Women's Union continued to work with the government of South Korea to address international marriage brokering and premarriage counseling, including education on immigration and citizenship regulations. Some domestic and international NGOs provided assistance. Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government The constitution does not provide for the right of citizens to change their government peacefully, and citizens could not freely choose the officials that govern them. Elections and Political Participation Recent Elections: The most recent elections, in May to select members of the National Assembly, were neither free nor fair, since the VFF chose and vetted all candidates. Despite the CPV's announcement that a greater number of "independent" candidates (those not linked to a certain organization or group) would run in the elections, the ratio of independents to other candidates was lower than that of the 2007 election. The CPV approved 15 "self- nominated" candidates who did not have official government backing but were allowed to run for office. There were credible reports that party officials pressured many self - nominated candidates to withdraw or found such candidates "ineligible" to run. According to the government, more than 99 percent of the 62 million eligible voters cast ballots in the May election, a figure that international observers considered improbably high. (Voters are permitted to cast ballots by proxy, and local authorities are charged with assuring that all eligible voters cast ballots by organizing group voting and all voters within their jurisdiction are recorded as having voted.) CPV candidates won 458 of the 500 seats. Only four of the 15 self - nominated candidates won.