National Assembly

All of the levels of Vietnamese government are controlled by the National Assembly or part of the Assembly itself. All the peole who hold the positions of power also hold a seat on the Assembly. Vietnam's National Assembly is made up of four hundred ninety-eight members, all of which are elected for a five-year term, just as the President is.

So what exactly does the National Assembly have the power to do? It can change and interpret the Vietnamese Constitution and make and adapt laws. Because of its ability to change the constitution, the Assembly can basically do what it wants to do. It can also set roles for the other levels of government - the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the People's Councils and People's Commitees, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Organs of Control. The National Assembly has a lot of power, because it can elect and replace members of any level of government in Vietnam. Of course, most, if not all, of those members were previously part of the National Assembly to begin with.

Positions of Power

Although the members of the Executive Branch of government are on the National Assembly, they also have individual power. The Executive Branch includes the President (currently Nguyen Minh Triet), Vice President (currently Truong My Hoa), Prime Minister (currently Nguyen Tan Dung), Deputy Prime Ministers (currently Nguyen Sinh Hung, Pham Gia Khiem, and Truong Vinh Trong), and a General Secretary. People must be a member of the National Assembly to be a candidate for one of these positions. The President (the head of state) is elected for a five-year term by other members of the National Assembly. He then appoints a Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister, in turn, chooses duputy prime ministers. All of these decisions must be approved by the rest of the National Assembly.

Below: The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung.

Provincial System of Government

Vietnam is divided into fifty-nine provinces and five municipalities (cities that have the same standing as provinces). The map below shows the provinces, and the cities are as follows: Can Tho, Da Nang, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City. The sixty-four areas are governed by People's Councils, which are essentially smaller versions of the National Assembly.

Government's Relation to the People

The Communist Party of Vietnam says that they’re all about the people of Vietnam. They’re supposed to be “the vanguard of the working people and the entire nation, representing the interests of the working class and the nation.” The party’s aim is ideally to make Vietnam a “strong, independent, prosperous and democratic country with an equitable and civilized society.” They are saying they want all of the people to be equal, but it doesn’t really work because Vietnam is not really a democracy. They have elections, but there is only one party to choose from. I think that the principles of the Vietnamese Government and of the Communist Party of Vietnam are a little unrealistic. The party is said to “make great efforts to maintain its close relationship with the people”, but the article that makes that statement (last link found above) does not fully explain what those efforts are. In reality, the government is stable but the people of Vietnam do not actually have much of a choice concerning politics.