Who is Vietnam’s newly re-elected Party chief?
Monday, February 01, 2016, 16:55 GMT+7
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam has won re-election for the next five-year term.
The first plenary meeting of the 12th Party Central Committee was convened in Hanoi on Wednesday within the framework of the 12thNational Congress, during which the incumbent Vietnamese Party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong, was elected to serve a second term.
In a photo published by the Vietnam News Agency, the General Secretary was congratulated by Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, and chief of the Central Commission for Propaganda and Education Dinh The Huynh.
The quinquennial congress, held from January 20 to 28 in Hanoi, named 200 members of the 12th Party Central Committee on Tuesday, including 180 official members and 20 alternate seats.
During the event’s closing ceremony on Thursday, Dinh The Huynh, on behalf of the chairing delegation, announced 19 members of the Politburo, three members of the Secretariat, and 21 members of the Central Inspection Commission, of which Tran Quoc Vuong was selected as chairman.
The Politburo is the most powerful panel in the Party and is selected from the Party Central Committee, which handles policy.
The 12th National Party Congress, organized to shape Vietnam’s leadership for the next five years, was attended by 1,510 delegates representing 4.5 million Party members across the country.
General Secretary Trong, born on April 14, 1944 in Dong Hoi Commune, Dong Anh District, Hanoi, is a professor and holds a PhD in politics and a BA in literature.
After joining the Communist Party of Vietnam on December 19, 1967, Trong spent his career serving the Party. Notably, he held the position of the editor-in-chief at the Communist Review for five years starting in August 1991.
The General Secretary has been a member of the Party Central Committee for six consecutive terms since 1994 and a member of the Politburo for five tenures since 1997.
Trong was appointed vice president of the Central Theoretical Council from 1998 to 2001, before serving as its president from 2001 to 2006.
He became a standing member of the Politburo from August 1999 to April 2001.
In July 2007, the Party chief was elected chairman of the National Assembly, as well as the Secretary of the National Assembly's Party Organization and member of the Council for Defense and Security.
Trong won his first election for the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam on January 18, 2011 and was re-elected for a second term in 2016.
