President of Vietnam

President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Emblem of Vietnam
Presidential Logo
Incumbent Trần Đại Quang since 2 April 2016
Style	Mr. President (informal) His Excellency (formal)
Residence	Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Vietnam
Appointer	National Assembly
Term length	Five years renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Vietnam
Inaugural holder	Hồ Chí Minh 26 August 1945
Formation	2 September 1945
Website	Office of the President (Vietnamese)

The President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is, according to the constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the head of state of Vietnam. Beside, the president also the head of government with Prime Minister. In this capacity, the President represents the government both domestically and internationally, and maintains the regular and coordinated operation and stability of the national government and safeguards the independence and territorial integrity of the country. The President appoints the Vice President, Prime Minister, Ministers and other officials with the consent of the National Assembly. The President is furthermore the commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and Chairman of the Council for Defense and Security. The tenure of the President is five years, and a president can only serve three terms. If the President becomes unable to discharge duties of office, the Vice President or Prime Minister assumes the office of acting president until the President resumes duty, or until the election of a new president.

The powers and prestige of the office of President have varied over the years. For instance, while the inaugural president, Hồ Chí Minh, was the first ranking member of the Communist Party's Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Vietnam, his successor, Tôn Đức Thắng, served as a symbolic figure. Since Trường Chinh's ascension to the presidency, the President has been ranked 1st or 2nd in the order of precedence of the Communist Party's Politburo except President Nguyen Minh Triet ranked fourth and President Vo Chi Cong ranked third.

History

Hồ Chí Minh was appointed Vietnam's first president in 1946 by the National Assembly. Both the 1946 and 1959 Constitutions stated that the National Assembly had the power to appoint and dismiss the President. The President represented Vietnam both internally and externally. The powers and responsibilities of the President remained unchanged in the 1959 constitution. The 1980 constitution transformed the office of head of state dramatically. The office of President was abolished and replaced with the office of Chairman of the Council of State (CC). The CC chairmanship was modelled after the Soviet office of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. The Council of State, as with the Council of Ministers, was a collective decision-making body. Both the Council of State and the Council of Ministers were part of the executive branch; the strengthening of these institutions weakened the role of the legislative branch. The duties, powers and responsibilities of the Council of State were taken from the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which lost most of its powers and prestige in the 1980 Constitution.

The members of the Council of State were elected by the National Assembly and consisted of a chairman, deputy chairmen, a General Secretary and other members. Council of State members could not concurrently be members of the Council of Ministers. The Chairman of the Council of State was concurrently Chairman of the National Defense Council (later the National Defense and Security Council) and commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces. The Council of State supervised the works of other institutions, most notably the Council of Ministers, the Supreme People's Organ for Control and the People's Councils at all levels. It also presided over the elections of the National Assembly. The office of Chairman of the Council of State, the head of state, was abolished in the 1992 Constitution and replaced by the office of President.

The importance of the President has not remained constant throughout Vietnamese history. For instance, while Hồ Chí Minh was ranked as first member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Vietnam, his successor, Tôn Đức Thắng, was a symbolic figure with little power. The post of head of state was strengthened in the 1980 Constitution by the appointment of Trường Chinh who was, by order of precedence, the second-highest-ranking member in the Politburo, behind Lê Duẩn. The office of President retained the second highest rank in the Politburo order of precedence until Nguyễn Minh Triết was appointed in 2006; he ranked fourth in the Politburo hierarchy. The Politburo elected in the aftermath of the 11th National Party Congress (held in January 2011) by the Central Committee elected Trương Tấn Sang, the current President, the first-ranking member of the Politburo. This was the first time in Vietnamese history where the highest-ranking member of the Politburo does not hold post of either General Secretary or Chairman (was in existence from 1951 to 1969) of the party. Since Trương Tấn Sang is first-ranked member of the Politburo, he is the body's unofficial head. Politburo meetings are held regularly; decisions within the Politburo are made through collective decision-making, and policies are only enacted if a majority of Politburo members supports them.

Term of office

The President is selected for a term of office of five years. The term of office of the incumbent president continues until the President-elect takes office

On assuming office, the president takes the following oath before the parliament:

In my capacity as President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, I swear complete allegiance to the country, people, and constitution; to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, the State, and people

Duties, powers and responsibilities

Vietnam
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Vietnam
Ideology Concepts Collective leadership Marxism–Leninism Ho Chi Minh Thought Organizations Central Propaganda Department Central Theoretical Council
Constitution History 1946 1959 1980 1992 2013
Communist Party National Congress (12th) Central Committee (members) General Secretary: Nguyễn Phú Trọng Politburo (12th) Secretariat Executive Secretary: Đinh Thế Huynh Central Military Commission Secretary: Nguyễn Phú Trọng Central Office Director: Trần Quốc Vượng Central Inspection Commission Chief: Ngô Văn Dụ
Legislative National Assembly Standing Committee Chairwoman: Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân
Executive President (list): Trần Đại Quang Vice President: Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh Prime Minister (list): Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Deputy Prime Ministers: Vương Đình Huệ Trương Hòa Bình Phạm Bình Minh Vũ Đức Đam Trịnh Đình Dũng Ministries Ministry of Defence Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Justice Ministry of Finance Ministry of Education and Training Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Transport Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry of Construction Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry of Industry and Trade Ministry of information and Communications Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry of Science and Technology Ministry of Planning and Investment Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry of Health Governor of the State Bank Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs
Fatherland Front Central Committee Chairman: Nguyễn Thiện Nhân Gen. Secretary: Vũ Trọng Kim Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee First Secretary Nguyễn Đắc Vinh
Military Commander-in-Chief Trần Đại Quang People's Army People's Public Security People's Security People's Police Council for National Defense and Security Central Military Commission Secretary: Nguyễn Phú Trọng
Judiciary Law Supreme People's Court Chief Justice: Trương Hòa Bình Supreme People's Procuracy Procurator-General: Nguyễn Hòa Bình
Foreign relations Foreign aid
See also Elections Administrative divisions Human rights
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

Presidential Palace, Hanoi

The President is the head of state of Vietnam, and his main priority is to represent Vietnam internally and externally. The officeholder is elected by the National Assembly of Vietnam, is responsible to it and reports to it. The tenure of the President is five years, the same as that of the National Assembly. The President continues to serve in his functions until the National Assembly elects a successor. The President has the following executive and legislative powers:

• He promulgates laws, decree-laws and the Constitution,
• He acts as the country's commander-in-chief and holds the office of Chairman of the National Defense and Security Council of Vietnam,
• to call the the National Defense and Security Council of Vietnam to meet,
• He shall take measures to protect the sovereignty of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam its independence and state integrity, and ensure concerted functioning and interaction of all bodies of state power,
• He can propose to the National Assembly the election or dismissal from office of the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court and the Head of the Supreme People's Office of Supervision and Control,
• He has the right to preside over meetings of the Government of Vietnam,
• The President can appoint or dismiss Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and other members of government,
• The President can proclaim a state of war or amnesty,
• On the basis of a Standing Committee resolution, the President can order a general or partial mobilisation, or can proclaim a state of emergency nationwide or in a particular region,
• The President can propose that the Standing Committee review its decree-laws and resolutions on matters stipulated in Points 8 and 9, Article 91, within the space of ten days following their adoption; if those decree-laws and resolutions are again passed by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly with the country's President dissenting, the latter shall report the matter to the National Assembly for it to decide the issue at its nearest session,
• The President can appoint or dismiss the Deputy Chief Judge and judges of the Supreme People's Court, Deputy Director of the Supreme People's Office of Supervision and Control,
• The President can appoint or dismiss the Chief of General Staff, Vice Chief of General Staff, Chief of the General Department of Politics, Vice Chief of the General Department of Politics,
• He confers titles and ranks on senior officers of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and bestows "diplomatic titles and ranks, and other State titles and ranks; to confer medals, badges and State honours and distinctions",
• The President can appoint and recall ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and can receive foreign ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, to negotiate and sign international agreements on behalf of the Socialist Republic with the Heads of other States; he can approve or join international agreements, except in cases where a decision by the National Assembly is necessary,
• He can grant Vietnamese nationality, release from Vietnamese nationality, or deprive of Vietnamese nationality,
• He holds Director of Steering Committee of the Central Judicial Reform.

The National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) is composed of the President, the Prime Minister and other members. The members of the NDSC are proposed by the President and approved by the National Assembly. NDSC members do not need to be members of the National Assembly. The decision-making process of the NDSC is that of a collective leadership. Among its powers is the right to mobilise all forces in the name of national defense, and in case of war the National Assembly can entrust the NDSC with special duties and powers.

Order of succession

Article 93 of the Constitution of Vietnam. In the event of the president not being able to discharge the duties of his/her office, Vice President, the Prime Minister and ministers in line of the order of succession shall be the acting president

• Vice President
• Prime Minister
• Minister of National Defence
• Minister of Public Security
• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Minister of Home Affairs
• Minister of Justice
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Transport
• Minister of Construction
• Minister of Education and Training
• Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
• Minister of Industry and Trade
• Minister of Planning and Investment
• Minister of Science and Technology
• Minister of Natural Resources and Environment
• Minister of information and Communications
• Leaders of the Government Inspectorate
• Governor of the State Bank
• Leaders of the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs
• Leaders of the Government Office
• Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs
• Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
• Minister of Health

Living former presidents

Name	Term of office	Age
Le Duc Anh	1992–1997	7009301628880000000♠95 years, 212 days
Tran Duc Luong	1997–2006	7009249788880000000♠79 years, 56 days
Nguyen Minh Triet	2006–2011	7009232668720000000♠73 years, 266 days
Truong Tan Sang	2011–2016	7009212826960000000♠67 years, 161 days

See also

• Vice President of Vietnam
• Prime Minister of Vietnam
• Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam
• General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army
• List of central officeholders in the Communist Party of Vietnam
• Air transports of heads of state and government

Bibliography

• Duong, Van Nguyen (2008). The Tragedy of the Vietnam War: A South Vietnamese Officer's Analysis. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786432851. 
• Porter, Gareth (1993). Vietnam: The Politics of Bureaucratic Socialism. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801421686.