The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Thủ tướng Chính phủ nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), known as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Vietnamese: ''Chủ tịch Hội đồng Bộ trưởng'') from 1981 to 1992, is the highest office within the
Central Government. The
prime minister is simultaneously the Secretary of the Government Caucus Commission, a Party organ on government affairs, and Deputy Chairman of the
Council for Defence and Security, an organ of the
National Assembly. Throughout its history, the office has been responsible, at least in theory but not always in practice, for handling Vietnam's internal policies. Since Vietnam is a
one-party state, with the
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...
being the sole party allowed by the
constitution, all the prime ministers of the
Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic have been members of the party while holding office. The current prime minister is
Phạm Minh Chính, since 5 April 2021. He is sixth-ranked in the
Political Bureau (Politburo).
The Office of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to
Hồ Chí Minh, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic. The office has no official connection, or lineage, to the heads of government of the former
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
(with the exception of
Huỳnh Tấn Phát, a communist and the last head of government of South Vietnam). Officially there have been 8 prime ministers of Vietnam,
but there have been 29 prime ministers of Vietnam if the prime ministers of the
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Contemporary Japanese: ; Modern Japanese: ja, ベトナム帝国, Betonamu Teikoku, label=none) was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam ...
and South Vietnam are counted.
The Prime Minister is elected by the proposal of the
President of Vietnam to the National Assembly and is responsible to the National Assembly, which elects all ministers to government. Activity reports by the Prime Minister must be given to the National Assembly, while the
Standing Committee of the National Assembly supervises the activities of the Central Government and the Prime Minister. Finally, the deputies of the National Assembly have the right to question the Prime Minister and other members of government.
Legends
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Contemporary Japanese: ; Modern Japanese: ja, ベトナム帝国, Betonamu Teikoku, label=none) was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam ...
(1945)
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–76)
;Status
State of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam (1949–1975)
Reunified Vietnam (1976–present)
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)
;Status
See also
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List of presidents of Vietnam
This is a list of those who have served as President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Chủ tịch nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) from the establishment of the position to the present. Since Vietnam is a singl ...
*
List of heads of government of Vietnam
This article lists the heads of government of modern Vietnam since 1945, from the establishment of the Empire of Vietnam to the present day.
Empire of Vietnam (1945)
North Vietnam
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–76)
;Status
South ...
*
Leaders of South Vietnam
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. The Central Committee can overrule the Politburo, but that does not happen often.
:2. These numbers are official. The "—" denotes acting head of government. The first column shows how many heads of government there have been in Vietnamese history, while the second show how many heads of government there was in that state.
:3. The Central Committee when it convenes for its first session after being elected by a
National Party Congress elects the Politburo. 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
Lê Hồng Anh (born November 12, 1949) is a Vietnamese politician who was the Minister of Public Security of Vietnam from 2002 to 2011. He was conferred the rank of General by the President of Vietnam on January 9, 2005.
In 2011, Lê Hồng ...
, 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
Tô Huy Rứa (born 4 June 1947 in Thanh Hóa Province) is a Vietnamese politician and served as previous Chairman of the CPV Commission for Organisation. During the 10th Politburo, Tô held the posts of Chairman of the Propaganda Department of ...
of the 10th Politburo, he was ranked lowest because he received the lowest approval vote of the 10th Central Committee when he was standing for election for a seat in the Politburo. This system was implemented at the 1st plenum of the 10th Central Committee. The Politburo ranking functioned as an official
order of precedence before the 10th Party Congress, and some believe it still does.
:4.
Phạm Văn Đồng became 4th-ranked member in the
Politburo
A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.
Names
The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
hierarchy when
Hồ Chí Minh, the 1st ranked, died in 1969.
:5. Phạm Văn Đồng was ranked 2nd in the Politburo hierarchy when
Lê Duẩn, the
General Secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
, died on 10 July 1986.
:6. Died in office.
References
General
The prime ministers, and when they took and left office, was taken from these sources:
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Specific
Bibliography
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External links
{{VietnamPMs
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Vietnam
Prime Ministers