Persons With Disabilities Face Barriers to Running for National Assembly in Việt Nam

Those born in the 1970s and 1980s who take an interest in disability issues or technology are likely familiar with Nguyễn Công Hùng. Living with a severe disability, he was often referred to as the “knight of information technology,” a title awarded by VietNamNet in 2005. 

This recognized his pivotal role in founding the Công Hùng and Nghị Lực Sống centers, which provided training and employment support for thousands of people with disabilities.

When he passed away on Dec. 31, 2012, at the age of 30, many newspapers recounted “the life of knight Nguyễn Công Hùng” and his societal contributions. [1] 

However, few outlets mentioned a crucial detail about his legacy: his unprecedented decision to run as an independent candidate for the 13th National Assembly.

Submitting his candidacy in 2011, Hùng hoped that political representation would allow him to advance healthcare and educational programs for people with disabilities. [2] Despite widespread public doubt, he successfully navigated the consultation rounds in Hà Nội and joined the official ballot.

His ability to clear the consultation process was considered “surprising.” As the first candidate to run specifically as a representative for people with disabilities, he ultimately faced insurmountable skepticism regarding his capacity due to his “health condition” and was not elected.

Fifteen years after that campaign, Việt Nam’s National Assembly still lacks a member widely recognized as representing people with disabilities—a demographic that accounts for more than 7% of the national population.

The “Health Requirement”

While voters in democratic countries decide whether to elect a candidate with disabilities, Việt Nam has taken a different approach. 

On paper, Vietnamese law does not explicitly discriminate; the Law on Elections states that any Vietnamese citizen aged 21 or older who meets the “criteria” for National Assembly deputies under the Law on Organization of the National Assembly may run for office. [3] [4] 

However, it is these very “criteria” that pose the problem. 

Clause 3, Article 22 of the law requires candidates to be “in good health” to perform their duties. 

Because the law does not clearly define what constitutes “good health,” how it is assessed, or over what period it is measured, this requirement has—intentionally or not—excluded many candidates with disabilities.

The impact of this legal ambiguity was highlighted in June 2025, when the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released “Stakeholder Perspectives on the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Elected Bodies.” [5] 

Considered the first report to examine this issue in Việt Nam, it utilized surveys and in-depth interviews with 54 participants, including voters, policymakers, National Assembly deputies, and representatives from disability organizations, socio-political groups, and the Mặt Trận Tổ quốc (Vietnam Fatherland Front). 

The report concluded that this “vague and hard-to-measure” provision acts as a major barrier.

Reflecting this societal bias, a 50-year-old lawyer commented: 

“People generally expect candidates for the National Assembly or People’s Councils to be dynamic and physically strong, because they represent voters at both local and national levels, and their responsibilities are heavy. So even among people without disabilities, not everyone can do the job—let alone people with disabilities.” 

Assumptions that individuals with disabilities are not sufficiently “dynamic and healthy” discourage organizations from nominating them, effectively ending their political aspirations at the first stage.

In reality, health and disability are entirely distinct concepts. Viewing disability solely through the lens of impairment relies on a medical model that focuses on limitations and deviations from the norm. 

Conversely, scholars argue that disability is also shaped by “negative interactions between individuals with impairments and their surrounding environment.” [6]

For example, a deaf person who exercises regularly may possess greater physical fitness than a sedentary person without disabilities. 

Similarly, a wheelchair user like Hùng may possess the stamina to work and teach for hours, surpassing the capabilities of a non-disabled peer. 

Disability is not solely about congenital or acquired impairments; it is equally about the societal barriers that restrict participation. The vague “health requirement” serves as one of these barriers.

No Dedicated Quota

According to a 2019 report by the General Statistics Office, Việt Nam has about 6.2 million people with disabilities, accounting for more than 7% of the population. [7] 

Despite these figures, more than 90% of respondents in the UNDP study reported that they had never seen a National Assembly deputy with disabilities in Việt Nam’s political arena.

Before each election, the National Assembly, based on direction from the Communist Party, determines the allocation of seats according to various criteria known as “structure.” [8] This includes “guiding structures” related to social diversity, which localities and organizations consider when nominating candidates.

For certain demographics, the Election Law provides explicit protections. 

To ensure gender balance, at least 35% of candidates must be women, and to ensure ethnic representation, at least 18% must belong to ethnic minorities. However, a quota for representatives of people with disabilities has never been discussed.

The absence of a dedicated structure, compounded by societal prejudices regarding the health of people with disabilities, makes their path to candidacy exceptionally difficult. 

In the current election cycle, two individuals with disabilities publicly announced their candidacies as early as October 2025. [9] Predictably, they did not pass the vetting rounds and were excluded from the final candidate list.

Challenges at Every Stage

“Nothing about us without us” is a foundational slogan in global disability rights movements. 

People with disabilities are demanding not just rights but representation, arguing that those without disabilities cannot easily understand their unique lived experiences.

In a rapid survey of 111 people with disabilities conducted by the UNDP in March and April 2021, 98.2% expressed a desire for National Assembly and People’s Council representatives with disabilities. [10] More than half believed such representatives would actively protect their rights. 

Yet, a significant confidence gap remains: 38% stated they were not ready to run for office. As one respondent explained: 

“I don’t feel confident enough to run because I think people with disabilities face challenges at many stages—from preparing application documents to campaigning. Socio-political organizations offer us very limited opportunities for nomination.

Societal attitudes regarding accessibility often reinforce these challenges. For example, during Công Hùng’s 2011 campaign, National Assembly deputy Nguyễn Minh Thuyết told a reporter that the assembly would need to “create favorable conditions” for Hùng if he were elected. [11]

While well-intentioned, framing accessibility measures—such as wheelchair ramps, sign language interpreters, or Braille documents—as “favorable conditions” implies they are special privileges or inconveniences rather than fundamental rights.

Legally, these rights are already established. Việt Nam enacted the Law on Persons with Disabilities in 2010 and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2014. [12] 

Nevertheless, implementation lags behind legislation, creating a cyclical problem. Many argue that public spaces lack accessibility because there are no representatives with disabilities to champion the issue. 

Conversely, invisible barriers—from the ambiguous legal “criteria” for candidates to everyday voting obstacles—strip people with disabilities of the confidence needed to run for office in the first place. [13]

Ultimately, the complete absence of a publicly recognized National Assembly deputy with disabilities serves as a significant critique of the current system. A demographic of more than 6 million people, comprising over 7% of the population, is entirely without a political voice.

While the issue is complex, the solution begins with a shift in perspective. Voters should decide the viability of candidates with disabilities, rather than vague legal “criteria” filtering them out. Implementing a dedicated quota could serve as a necessary temporary measure to ensure diversity. 

However, true long-term progress requires actively dismantling societal prejudices and structural barriers, finally enabling people with disabilities to confidently step into the political arena.

---

Minh Nhật wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on March 18, 2026. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.