This suggestion was made by many parliamentarians during discussions on the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the National Assembly Organization Law on February 12th.
Mr. Nguyễn Anh Trí from Hanoi welcomed the National Assembly’s initiative to hold non-regular sessions to promptly address important national issues. However, he found the term “extraordinary session” to be somewhat tense-sounding. He recommended calling them “non-regular sessions” instead.
Mr. Nguyễn Anh Trí suggested that the term “extraordinary session” sounds too tense (Photo: Hồng Phong).
“With the National Assembly, whenever the people or the country needs, we should convene. The meetings should be effective, reasonable, and time-efficient,” Mr. Trí added.
Echoing this view, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Bac Lieu Province, Mr. Nguyễn Huy Thái, proposed considering more appropriate names for extraordinary sessions. He suggested adding a provision to name them “special sessions.”
“In the era of advancement, the National Assembly has many tasks to accomplish, so it might be wise to consider amending the Constitution as soon as possible,” Mr. Thái stated.
Noting that many voters were also concerned about the term “extraordinary session,” Deputy Head of the Legal Committee, Mr. Ngô Trung Thành, explained that the Constitution stipulates two regular sessions per year and the conditions for holding extraordinary ones, but does not specify the term “extraordinary session.”
Deputy Head of the Legal Committee, Mr. Ngô Trung Thành (Photo: Hồng Phong).
Therefore, with this law amendment, Mr. Thành noted that it is an opportunity to specify and regulate additional non-regular sessions beyond the two regular ones, possibly numbering them.
“This session should settle the naming issue once and for all,” he said.
Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dak Nong Province, Mr. Dương Khắc Mai, also agreed that “what becomes frequent enough will eventually become normal.”
He expressed his view that changing the term from “extraordinary” to “special” would make each meeting seem more routine, helping the National Assembly handle critical national issues effectively.
From a different perspective, Deputy Head of the Culture, Education, and Youth Committee, Mr. Tạ Văn Hạ, argued that the term “extraordinary session” is not something to overthink and should not be considered normal.
Deputy Head of the Culture, Education, and Youth Committee, Mr. Tạ Văn Hạ (Photo: Hồng Phong).
According to him, using the term “extraordinary” serves as a reminder that the system still requires much study, quality must be improved, and urgent issues need immediate resolution.
He mentioned that both deputies and voters hope that extraordinary sessions will decrease, indicating that the legal system is becoming more complete.
In his report at the session, Chairman of the Legal Committee, Mr. Hoàng Thanh Tùng, acknowledged the parliamentarians’ opinions and committed to further research and reporting to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration and decision.
Expressing his viewpoint, Mr. Tùng noted that either “non-regular” or “special session” names do not conflict with the Constitution.
