Deputies uneasy about draft Law on Associations
National Assembly deputies spent the whole day on October 25 trying to iron out their differences over the draft Law on Associations. All agreed that the right to establish associations was one of the fundamental rights of citizens provided by the Constitution. However, some deputies said the law should only allow Vietnamese citizens to establish associations in accordance with Article 25 of the 2013 Constitution. All the deputies agreed that the Law would not be applied to six socio-political organisations born at the time of the revolutionary period of the Communist Party, namely the Việt Nam Fatherland Front, the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee, the Việt Nam Women’s Union, the Việt Nam War Veterans Association, the Việt Nam Farmers’ Union and the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour. These organisations are subject to their own set of laws and the decision is in line with the Constitution as well as with the historic development and political structure of the nation.
