Hanoi (VNA) - Ethnic minority candidates in the upcoming elections in Vietnam were equipped with campaign skills during a meeting held in Hanoi on April 23 by the National Assembly (NA)’s Council for Ethnic Affairs and the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs.

More than 80 candidates from 16 northern cities and provinces running for seats in the 15th NA and provincial-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 term attended the event.

In his opening remarks, Chairman of the NA’s Ethnic Affairs Council Ha Ngoc Chien said that ensuring the ratio of ethnic minority candidates is among the issues the council has paid attention to.

Therefore, ahead of the elections in recent tenures, with the NA Standing Committee’s permission, the Ethnic Affairs Council and the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs have organised meetings to provide training on campaign skills for ethnic minority candidates.

He noted that most ethnic minority candidates in the upcoming NA and all-level People’s Council elections are newcomers, and their access to information and campaign skills, especially the building of action plans, voter persuasion skills, and presentation skills, remains limited.

These are considerable barriers to their success in the elections, Chien said, expressing his hope that the meeting will create more opportunities for the candidates to be successful, thus contributing to the success of the elections, which are slated for May 23.

Participants were provided with fundamental knowledge about the Party’s guidelines and policies as well as State laws on ethnic minority affairs, campaigning skills, the tasks and power of people-elected representatives, and media skills.

According to legal regulations on elections, the electoral campaign period will start on the date of the announcement of official lists of candidates and end before 7am on May 22./.