A high-ranking military general has been voted in as one of two deputy heads of Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly on Monday.

Deputy Minister of Defense General Do Ba Ty, who is also Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, will be in charge of national defense and security at the legislative body.

The other newly-elected deputy head is Phung Quoc Hien, who previously stepped down as head of the National Assembly Committee for Finance and Budget.

Hien will be responsible for economic, financial and budgetary issues.

Ty, 62, was nominated to replace the former deputy head of the National Assembly Huynh Ngoc Son, who was dismissed on April 2 after he was not re-elected as member of the Party Central Committee at the 12th National Party Congress in January.

Hien will replace the National Assembly’s former deputy head Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who was selected as chairperson of the legislature on March 31. Ngan is the first-ever chairwoman of the house.

The National Assembly convened a meeting in Hanoi on Monday to vote on the two deputy heads of the legislative body, and seven members of the legislature’s Standing Committee. All seven of the nominees for the National Assembly Standing Committee won approval for the posts.

All nine of the newly-elected positions on Monday are also members of the Party Central Committee.

The announcement of the election result had been initially planned for late Monday, but was delayed until Tuesday morning.

Nguyen Hanh Phuc, general secretary of the National Assembly, said that as there were nine positions to vote for, the calculation of results took more time than usual.

“It could take until 7:00 pm, but it would be inconvenient to ask lawmakers to stay until that late,” he said on Monday.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!