Government and politics
Vietnam is a unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic, one of the two communist states (the other being Laos) in Southeast Asia.[235] Although Vietnam remains officially committed to socialism as its defining creed, its economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist,[236][237] with The Economist characterising its leadership as "ardently capitalist communists".[238] Under the constitution, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) asserts their role in all branches of the country's politics.[235] The president is the elected head of state and the commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the chairman of the Council of Supreme Defence and Security, and holds the second highest office in Vietnam as well as performing executive functions and state appointments and setting policy.[235]
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The general secretary of the CPV performs numerous key administrative functions, controlling the party's national organisation.[235] The prime minister is the head of government, presiding over a council of ministers composed of five deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions. Only political organisations affiliated with or endorsed by the CPV are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam. These include the Vietnamese Fatherland Front and worker and trade unionist parties.[235]
The National Assembly of Vietnam is the unicameral state legislature composed of 500 members.[239] Headed by a chairman, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly.[235] The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, headed by a chief justice, is the country's highest court of appeal, though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and many local courts. Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of state security. Vietnam maintains the death penalty for numerous offences.[240]
In 2023, a three-person collective leadership was responsible for governing Vietnam. President Võ Văn Thưởng,[241] Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (since 2021)[242] and the most powerful leader Nguyễn Phú Trọng (since 2011) as the Communist Party of Vietnam's General Secretary.[243] On 22 May 2024, Tô Lâm, who previously served as the Minister of Public Security, was voted as the president of Vietnam by the National Assembly, after Võ Văn Thưởng resigned in March of the same year due to corruption charges against him.[244] On 3 August 2024, Tô Lâm, who is also serving as the president, was elected by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam as the general secretary following the death of Nguyễn Phú Trọng on 19 July 2024.[245][246] On 21 October 2024, the National Assembly appointed army general Lương Cường as president, succeeding Tô Lâm.[247]