Unified National Assembly (Sixth National Assembly)
통일 국회 (제6기 국회)
The unicameral legislature of reunified Vietnam, elected as the Sixth National Assembly in April 1976 under the agreements reached at the November 1975 North–South political consultative conference. A nationwide general election returned 492 deputies (249 from the north, 243 from the south), all 492 representing the unified country as its single supreme state organ, succeeding the two zone assemblies. At its first session (June 24–July 3, 1976) it adopted the country's name, flag, emblem, anthem and capital, formally proclaimed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976, and renamed Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City.
In depth
Election and Composition
Following the North–South political consultative conference of November 1975 that agreed the procedure for national reunification, a general election was held across Vietnam on April 25, 1976, the first nationwide balloting since 1946 to cover the whole country. A total of 492 deputies were returned (one per 100,000 inhabitants), with 249 elected in the north and 243 in the south. Candidates stood under the umbrella of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, the sole contestant, and turnout was reported at 98.77% (more than 23 million voters).
Character and Session
The newly elected assembly held its first session from June 24 to July 3, 1976. On July 2 it adopted a resolution on the country's name, flag, emblem, anthem and capital, formally declaring the nation the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and renamed Saigon–Gia Định as Ho Chi Minh City. The same session passed resolutions establishing six standing commissions, creating a Constitutional Drafting Committee, and providing for the organization of the state pending a new constitution.
The 'Sixth' Numbering and Duration
The assembly's resolution designating the body elected on April 25, 1976 as 'the Sixth National Assembly' signals that it is the constitutional continuation of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north, and thus the continuity and uniformity of the Vietnamese state. The Sixth National Assembly served from 1976 to 1981, when the Seventh legislature was elected on April 26, 1981.