General Secretary and President in the Vietnamese political system

The National Assembly session opening on October 21 will include the election of the President.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was the person unanimously recommended by the Party Central Committee at its working session on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 3, to be elected by the upcoming National Assembly session to hold the position of Head of State.

Previously, after more than a year of treatment, President Tran Dai Quang passed away at 10:05 a.m. on September 21 at the 108 Central Military Hospital. Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh was assigned as acting President and will hold this position until the National Assembly elects a new President.

After being elected, the new President will have to swear allegiance to the Fatherland, the People and the Constitution.

Previously, after the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the highest position in the Party was Party Chairman, held by President Ho Chi Minh. The founder of the Communist Party of Vietnam was also the first President and held this position until September 1969.

Thus, this is a historical period in which the person holding the highest position in the Party assumed the position of head of state.

From September 1969, the second President of Vietnam was Mr. Ton Duc Thang. At this time, the head of the Party was First Secretary Le Duan.

In July 1986, General Secretary Le Duan passed away. At a special meeting of the Party Central Committee, Mr. Truong Chinh, who was Chairman of the State Council, was elected to the position of General Secretary and held the position until December 1986. This was also a short period (5 months) in which the Party leader was also the head of the State Council.

In recent terms, the positions of General Secretary, President, Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Assembly have always been held by four different leaders. With the event at the 8th Central Conference, 12th term on the afternoon of October 3, for the first time after many terms, the head of the Party was introduced to the National Assembly to elect to the position of Head of State.

How are the General Secretary and President elected?

According to current regulations, the National Congress is convened by the Central Executive Committee every five years. The Congress elects the Central Executive Committee and the Central Executive Committee elects the Politburo; the General Secretary is elected from among the Politburo members.

The General Secretary is the Secretary of the Central Military Commission. In the 12th tenure (2016-2021), for the first time in the terms, the General Secretary participated in the Party Committee and the Standing Committee of the Central Public Security Party Committee.

In addition, since February 2013, the General Secretary has been Head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption.

Among the criteria for the position of General Secretary, there are requirements for political mettle, capacity, research, discovery, proposal, development of new ideas and major, long-term strategies; decisiveness and resoluteness in deciding difficult, complicated issues related to the fate of the Party, the nation, and the people.

The General Secretary must also have the capacity to lead and manage the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat; and have the capacity to direct the preparation and building of a team of strategic-level cadres, especially the successor...

Regarding the title of President, the Constitution stipulates that this is a person elected by the National Assembly from among its deputies. The term of office of the President follows the term of the National Assembly (currently the 14th National Assembly, 2016-2021).

The Constitution also clearly states the duties and powers of the President - the representative of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in domestic and foreign affairs; including the position of commander of the people's armed forces, holding the position of Chairman of the National Defense and Security Council; deciding to confer, promote, demote, and strip military ranks of generals, rear admirals, vice admirals, naval admirals, etc.

Currently, the President is also the Head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform.

During the revision and promulgation of the 2013 Constitution and on several other occasions, many discussion opinions proposed to stipulate that the head of the Party is also the head of the State. According to the explanation of the competent authority at that time, this mechanism had in fact been raised for several terms, but this was a task assigned by the Party depending on each period, not "hardly" recorded in a specific document; moreover, the President is an institution of the state apparatus, not a specific individual.

The apparatus structure of the Presidential institution includes: President; Vice President; National Defense and Security Council; Office of the President.

In the Vietnamese political system, according to Article 4 of the Constitution, the Communist Party is the leading force of the State and society. The highest position in the Party is General Secretary.

The State system includes: National Assembly; President; Government; Supreme People's Court; Supreme People's Procuracy and local-level apparatus. The President is the head of State, representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in domestic and foreign affairs.

The political system also includes the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Trade Unions and other socio-political organizations.