Trương Thị Mai (; born 23 January 1958) is a Vietnamese politician. She was the

Permanent Member of the Secretariat The Permanent Member of the Secretariat, officially the Permanent Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's Secretariat (), is a senior position within the Communist Party of Vietnam. The Permanent Member is appointed by the Po ...

and Head of the Central Organization Commission of the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) 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 Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

, being the first woman to hold these positions. Mai was a member of both the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

and

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

, the country's highest decision-making bodies, in which she ranked 5th (after the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

, the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and the National Assembly Chair), which made her the most powerful woman in

Vietnamese politics The politics of Vietnam is dominated by a single party under an authoritarian system, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The President of Vietnam ( Vietnamese: ) is the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of govern ...

. A member of the Party Central Committee since 2006, she was previously the Head of the Party's Mass Mobilisation Commission. A long-time member of the

National Assembly of Vietnam The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (N.A.; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral parliament and the highest body of state power of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam. The National Assembly is the only branch of governmen ...

since 1997, Mai also served as Chair of the

Parliamentary Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

for Social Affairs and Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children. She was the President of the Vietnam–Cuba Friendship Association. Before entering national politics, Mai was the President of the Vietnam Youth Federation, being the first woman to do so. She was also a Permanent Member of the Central Committee's Secretariat of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union. She held a Bachelor of History, a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

and a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

as well as an Advanced Degree in

Political Theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...

from the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics.

Background and education

Trương Thị Mai was born on January 23, 1958, in

Quảng Bình Province Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Việt Nam, Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh province, Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị province, ...

, Vietnam. Her family moved to

Da Lat Da Lat, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

Lâm Đồng Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin (surname), Lin in Mandarin Chinese , Mandarin and Im (Korean name), Im in Korean language, Korean. Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm. Lin (surname), Lam is also a c ...

when she was young. She grew up here and majored in History at

Dalat University Dalat University or the University of Dalat (, ; formerly ''Viện Đại học Đà Lạt (1957 - 1975)'') is a university in the city of Đà Lạt, capital of Lâm Đồng Province, Vietnam. History The original Dalat University was establish ...

, receiving a Bachelor of History. She attended the National Academy of Public Administration in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, received a Bachelor of Laws, then continued to major in Public Administration and obtained a Master's degree in Public Administration. On October 11, 1985, she was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam, becoming an official member on October 11, 1986. She also attended courses at Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics, receiving an advanced degree in political theory.

Career

Communist Youth Union

Trương Thị Mai has spent many years working in Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union. From October 15 to 18, 1992, National Congress of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union took place in

, electing her a member of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee's Secretariat. In 1997, she continued to be elected to Central Committee's Secretariat. In the same year, she was appointed Vice President and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation, while still working in the Youth Union at the same time. In March 1998, she was officially elected President of Vietnam Youth Federation, becoming the first female president of this organization. At the Congress of Vietnam Youth Federation in January 2000, she continued to be elected President before being relieved of her duties at the meeting of the Central Committee of Vietnam Youth Federation on February 15, 2003. In July 2001, she was elected to become a Standing member of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee's Secretariat. She worked for the Youth Union Central Committee for 10 years, from 1992 to December 2002.

National Assembly

Trương Thị Mai has been a member of the National Assembly of Vietnam since 1997. In 1997, she was elected a Member of the National Assembly, Cà Mau Province Delegation, and also a member of National Assembly Law Committee. From 2002 - 2007, she was a member of the Trà Vinh Delegation to the National Assembly. From 2007 – 2011, she was a member of Bình Phước Delegation to the National Assembly. On May 20, 2007, after the first session of the 12th National Assembly, she was elected a member of

Standing Committee of the National Assembly The National Assembly Standing Committee ( - UBTVQH), formerly organized as the Council of State (), is the highest standing body of the National Assembly of Vietnam, National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam. Its members are elected from among National A ...

and the Chairwoman of the National Assembly Social Affairs Committee. On January 18, 2011, at the 11th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, she was elected a member of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam ( Vietnamese: ''Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam''), commonly the Party Central Committee (PCC; - or ), is the highest organ between two national congresses ...

. She also continued to be a member of

and the Chairwoman of the National Assembly Social Affairs Committee. From 2011 to 2021, she was a Member of the National Assembly, Lâm Đồng Delegation. She was elected a member of the National Assembly on May 22, 2016, in constituency 02, including the 3 districts:

Lâm Hà District Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Mandarin and Im in Korean. Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm. Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations ...

, Đam Rông District and Di Linh District. She got 194,275 votes, 79.93% of total valid votes. In November 2014, she got the third highest number of votes, in a vote of confidence, after the Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and the President Truong Tan Sang.

Party Central Committee

On January 26, 2016, at the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, she was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The next day, on January 27, 2016, she was elected to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. On February 4, 2016, she became a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the Head of the Mass Mobilisation Commission of the CPV Central Committee. In April 2016, she was appointed by the Politburo to be a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the

Vietnam Fatherland Front The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF, alternatively Vietnamese Fatherland Front; ) is constitutionally an integral component in the political structure of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and an umbrella group of mass movements and political coa ...

. On May 24, 2017, she became the President of the Vietnam - Cuba Friendship Association, succeeding Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Politburo

Organization Commission

On January 30, 2021, at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, she was elected as a full member of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The next day, on January 31, at the first plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee, she was elected a member of the

Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Political Bureau (Politburo) of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee is the highest body of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in between gatherings of the National Congress and of the plenary sessions Central Committee. Accord ...

. On April 8, 2021, she was appointed Head of Organization Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, succeeding Phạm Minh Chính, the first-ever woman to hold the position.

Secretariat

On 6 March 2023, the 13th Politburo appointed Mai to the post

, succeeding

Võ Văn Thưởng Võ Văn Thưởng (; born 13 December 1970) is a Vietnamese politician who served as the 12th president of Vietnam from March 2023 to March 2024, being the youngest person to serve in this position since the country's Reunification Day, reunifi ...

, who left office after his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

President of Vietnam The president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam () is the head of state of Vietnam, elected by the National Assembly of Vietnam from its delegates. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, candidates for the post are nominated by the Central Commit ...

on 2 March 2023. Mai is the first woman to hold this position. She resigned on 16 May 2024, after she committed what the party said were regulation violations that negatively impacted the party and the nation.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truong, Thi Mai Members of the 12th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 13th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 12th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 13th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Living people 1958 births 21st-century Vietnamese women politicians 21st-century Vietnamese politicians People from Quảng Bình province