Hanoi (Vietnam) (AFP) - Voters in Vietnam cast their ballots on Sunday for members of the National Assembly, the country’s top legislative body that serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party.

The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting eight percent growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics.

Out of 864 candidates for the 500-seat parliament, only 65 are not members of the Communist Party – down from 74 in the last vote five years ago.

Patriotic red-and-yellow banners fluttered from lampposts and traffic lights in the capital Hanoi where well-dressed senior citizens were some of the first to vote.

“I do expect top leaders after this election will make major changes to make our country better,” Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, told AFP at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi.

But in a country where major policies and projects are decided by senior cadres, many citizens feel lukewarm about elections.

“I don’t think who wins will have any impact on my life,” said a woman who gave her name as Huyen in Hanoi.

State media said 40 percent of 79 million eligible voters had cast their ballots by Sunday morning.

Most polling stations are scheduled to close at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT), with results not expected for at least a week.

- No surprises -

Among the new parliament’s first tasks when it sits next month will be to confirm top leaders already selected by the party at its twice-a-decade congress in January.

Top leader To Lam was reaffirmed as general secretary, but he is widely expected to become president as well – a post that requires approval by lawmakers.

“As more or less a window-dressing institution, there won’t be any big surprises at the vote,” said Nguyen Khac Giang of the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

“However, top personnel selections – particularly the prime minister and the president – will carry significant implications for the ongoing reform process,” he added.

Lam has implemented dramatic changes in nearly two years at the helm, slashing bureaucratic red tape and pushing major infrastructure investments as he aims to boost economic growth.

The party rallied around his bold vision at the January congress, electing several of Lam’s allies to its highest decision-making body.

Aside from his reappointment as general secretary, however, the party did not publicly announce the other main “pillars” of Vietnam’s collective leadership structure.

The president, prime minister and head of the national assembly will all be confirmed by lawmakers’ votes.

Lam would be the first person to have secured the top two jobs at a party congress, rather than stepping in following a holder’s death.

After voting Sunday morning in Hanoi, Lam said on live television that the election aimed “to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country to more development”.

First-time voter Nguyen Kim Chi, 18, said she cast her ballot in the capital for “all the young” candidates.

“I know top positions are already set,” she added, “but I still hope my votes count.”