Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam
Chủ tịch Quốc hội nuớc Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam
Logo of National Assembly of Vietnam
Incumbent
Vương Đình Huệ
since 31 March 2021
TypePresiding officer
AppointerNational Assembly
Term lengthFive years, renewable
Inaugural holderNguyễn Văn Tố
Formation2 March 1946; 78 years ago (1946-03-02)
Salary15,125,000₫ monthly[1]

The Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Quốc hội Việt Nam),[note_5] formerly designated as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội Việt Nam) from 1946 to 1981, is the legislative speaker of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, presiding over the National Assembly. The National Assembly is, in the words of the constitution, "the highest representative organ of the people; the highest organ of state power".[2]

The chairman is elected by the deputies (members) of the National Assembly in the first season of the assembly's tenure. The Standing Committee, over which the chairman presides, is a permanent body in charge of the National Assembly's activities when it is not in session. The chairman and the other members of the Standing Committee have to resign from their posts when the National Assembly dissolves itself, which it normally does every five years.[3] The chairman presides over the sessions of the National Assembly and authenticates laws and resolutions passed by the National Assembly by signing them. The chairman leads the activities of the Standing Committee and organises its external relations with other state bodies and is responsible for maintaining cordial relations between the members of the Standing Committee.[4] The deputies of the National Assembly have the right to question the chairman.[5]

The powers and prestige of the office of chairman has varied throughout the years. For instance, the two first officeholders Nguyễn Văn Tố and Bùi Bằng Đoàn were not members of the Communist Party, while Trường Chinh, the fourth chairman, was ranked second in the Politburo hierarchy. Still, of the ten people who have chaired the National Assembly, five of them have been members of the Politburo. The current chairman is Vương Đình Huệ,[6] and he is ranked third in the Politburo hierarchy.[note 1]

History

The first chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly was the scholar Nguyễn Văn Tố; he was not a member of the Communist Party. On 3 March 1946, under the chairmanship of Nguyễn Văn Tố, the National Assembly formed the first government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.[7] Nguyễn Văn Tố was succeeded in office on 9 November 1946 by Bùi Bằng Đoàn, a poet and another non-Communist Party member. While he was never a member of the Communist Party, he was a committed revolutionary.[8] Tôn Đức Thắng succeeded Bùi Bằng Đoàn as chairman in 1955, and was the first chairman to be a member of the Communist Party.[9] Trường Chinh became the fourth and longest-serving chairman of the National Assembly in Vietnamese history, holding the post from 1960 to 1981, when he became chairman of the State Council, a newly established post.[10] Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a Southerner, succeeded Trường in 1981, as chairman, but he was not a member of the Politburo. Nguyễn Hữu Thọ stepped down as chairman in 1987, and was succeeded by Lê Quang Đạo, another non-Politburo member. As with Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, Lê Quang Đạo's tenure lasted one term.[11] Nông Đức Mạnh was elected chairman in 1992, and held office until 2001 Nông was the first chairman who came from a minority background, the Tày, and was the first chairman since Trường who was a Politburo member.[12] Nông stepped down in 2001, and was succeeded by Nguyễn Văn An, who served as chairman from 2001 until 2006.[13] On 26 June 2006 Nguyễn Phú Trọng was elected chairman with a majority of 84.58% of the National Assembly deputies in favour.[14] Nguyễn Phú Trọng stepped down in 2011 because of his election to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam,[15] and was succeeded by Nguyễn Sinh Hùng. Nguyễn Sinh Hùng stepped down on 31 March 2016, and was replaced by Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân.[16] She's the first woman to hold the office.[16] Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân stepped down on 31 March 2021, and was replaced by Vương Đình Huệ.

List

Number
[note 2] 		Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Took office Left office Political party National Assembly
Heads of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–60)
1 Nguyễn Văn Tố
(1889–1947) 		2 March 1946 8 November 1946 Independent National Assembly I
(1946–60)
2 Bùi Bằng Đoàn
(1889–1955) 		9 November 1946 13 April 1955 Independent
—
[note 4] 		Tôn Đức Thắng
(1888–1980) 		1 August 1948 20 September 1955 Communist Party of Indochina (until 1951)
Worker's Party of Vietnam (since 1951)
3 20 September 1955 15 July 1960
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1960–76)
4 A bald man, wearing a white T-shirt Trường Chinh
(1907–1988) 		15 July 1960 2 July 1976 Worker's Party of Vietnam National Assembly II
(1960–64)
National Assembly III
(1964–71)
National Assembly IV
(1971–75)
National Assembly V
(1975–76)
Chairmen of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)
4 A bald man, wearing a white T-shirt Trường Chinh
(1907–1988) 		2 July 1976 4 July 1981 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly VI
(1976–81)
5 Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
(1910–1996) 		4 July 1981 18 June 1987 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly VII
(1981–87)
6 Lieutenant general Lê Quang Đạo
(1921–1999) 		18 June 1987 23 September 1992 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly VIII
(1987–92)
7 a man with greying black hair, wearing a suit and tie Nông Đức Mạnh
(1940–) 		23 September 1992 27 June 2001 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly IX
(1992–97)
National Assembly X
(1997–2002)
8 a man with white hair, wearing a suit and tie Nguyễn Văn An
(1937–) 		27 June 2001 26 June 2006 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly XI
(2002–07)
9 a smiling man with greying black hair, wearing a suit and tie Nguyễn Phú Trọng
(1944–) 		26 June 2006 23 July 2011 Communist Party of Vietnam
National Assembly XII
(2007–11)
10 a smiling nearly bald man, wearing glasses, a suit and a blue tie, back him is flag of India Nguyễn Sinh Hùng
(1946–) 		23 July 2011 30 March 2016 Communist Party of Vietnam National Assembly XIII
(2011–16)
11 Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân
(1954–) 		31 March 2016 30 March 2021 Communist Party of Vietnam
National Assembly XIV
(2016–21)
12 Vương Đình Huệ
(1957–) 		31 March 2021 incumbent Communist Party of Vietnam
National Assembly XV
(2021–26)

Notes

1.^ The Politburo of the Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the CPV and the Central Government. The membership composition, and the order of rank of the individual Politburo members is decided in an election within the newly formed Central Committee in the aftermath of a Party Congress.[17] The Central Committee can overrule the Politburo, but that does not happen often.[18]
2.^ These numbers are not official.
3.^ The Central Committee when it convenes for its first session after being elected by a National Party Congress elects the Politburo.[17] According to David Koh, in interviews with several high-standing Vietnamese officials, the Politburo ranking is based upon the number of approval votes by the Central Committee. Lê Hồng Anh, the Minister of Public Security, was ranked 2nd in the 10th Politburo because he received the second-highest number of approval votes. Another example being Tô Huy Rứa of the 10th Politburo, he was ranked lowest because he received the lowest approval vote of the 10th Central Committee when he stood for election for a seat in the Politburo. This system was implemented at the 1st plenum of the 10th Central Committee.[19] The Politburo ranking functioned as an official order of precedence before the 10th Party Congress, and some believe it still does.[17]
4.^ Ton Duc Thang took over the vacant position of Bui Bang Doan as he was severely ill at that time, however Bui Bang Doan still held the title of Head of National Assembly until he died in 1955, hence Ton Duc Thang was acting Head of National Assembly during that period.
5.^ less formally the National Assembly Chairman (N.A. Chairman; Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Quốc hội, abbrev. CTQH).

References

General
The number of chairmen of the National Assembly, their names, and when they took and left office, was taken from this source:

Specific

  1. ^ "Lương của Chủ tịch nước, Thủ tướng, Chủ tịch Quốc hội là bao nhiêu? - VTC News". Báo VTC (in Vietnamese). 13 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Hiến pháp năm 2013". thuvienphapluat.vn. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Political system". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Article 92 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Article 98 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Hanoi Party chief takes over as National Assembly chairman". Tuoi Tre News. 31 March 2021.
  7. ^ Hoang 2008, p. 517.
  8. ^ Staff writer. "Bùi Bằng Đoàn" (in Vietnamese). National Assembly of Vietnam. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  9. ^ Staff writer. "Danh sách Uỷ viên Uỷ ban Thường vụ Quốc hội Khoá" [List of members of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly] (in Vietnamese). National Assembly of Vietnam. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  10. ^ Feldbrugge 1987, p. 20.
  11. ^ Staff writer. "Quốc hội nước ta qua các kỳ bầu cử" [Elections of the National Assembly] (in Vietnamese). tapchicongsan.org.vn. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  12. ^ International Business Publications, USA 2007, p. 78.
  13. ^ Singh & Thambipillai 2012, p. 375.
  14. ^ Staff writer (26 June 2006). "New National Assembly chairman Nguyen Phu Trong inauguration". vietbao.vn. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Party Congress announces CPVCC Politburo members". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Vietnam police chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as president". BBC News. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  17. ^ a b c Van & Cooper 1983, p. 69.
  18. ^ Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). "The Lessons of Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics". Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic University of America. p. 12. ((cite web)): Missing or empty |url= (help)
  19. ^ Koh 2008, p. 666.

Bibliography

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