Vietnam Government and Politics

State and politics

Reference: Vietnam Flag Meaning

According to AllCityCodes.com, Vietname’s constitution was adopted in 1992. It was the result of a process of renewal in the Vietnamese society, officially initiated at the Communist Party’s Sixth National Congress in 1986 under the designation Đôi Mo迂i. This process of renewal can be clearly discerned even in the subsequent economic reforms.

The state’s highest body is the Parliament, Quôc hôi, whose 500 members are elected in five years by universal suffrage. Parliament elects the country’s president for his own term of office and also appoints, on the proposal of the president, vice president, prime minister and chairman of the Supreme Court. The president is the commander-in-chief and chairman of the National Defense and Security Council. Since 2016, Nguyễn Xuân Ph迆c has been Prime Minister while the Secretary-General of the Communist Party since 2011, Nguyễn Ph迆 Trọng, has also been President since 2018.

According to the constitution, Vietnam’s Communist Party, Cang Công San Viễt Nam, is the leading force in society. Also see AbbreviationFinder for abbreviation of VM and its meanings of Vietnam. Some opposition parties are not allowed. The Communist Party’s highest body is the Congress. A central committee, elected by Congress, draws the lines of party politics in the interim period. The Central Committee elects the 17 members of the Politburo, the party’s highest executive body.

The Communist Party is supplemented by the mass organization Fosterland. This includes the Communist Party, the National Liberation Front (FNL) and official Buddhist and Catholic movements. Government and parliament have become more important. Since the 1992 parliamentary elections, several, and even independent, candidates can run in the same constituency. Since the 1990s, a few independent candidates have been elected to the National Assembly. The percentage of members who are from ethnic minorities is at a relatively high level in regional comparison.

The economic crisis in Asia in the late 1990s also affected Vietnam and led to discussions on in-depth reforms. Within the Communist Party, there are shared opinions between those who want to speed up reforms and those who advocate a slower pace of change. After strong economic growth from the mid-00s, Vietnam was hit by the global economic crisis at the end of the decade. Check Countryaah for other countries that start with V.

Judiciary

After Vietnam’s reunification, the legal order in the country was dominated by North Vietnamese socialist law. However, economic liberalization meant that legal development became an instrument to support the transition to a market economy system. Due to the influence of French and later Soviet law first, the legal system in Vietnam is mainly based on written laws, but with significant gaps. The highest court is the Supreme People’s Court. The death penalty can be punished for some serious crimes.

Human Rights

In Vietnam, the cultural differences between the regions of the country are large. Their own cultural identity plays a major role in daily life. However, strong family values are common throughout the country.

The family structure is essentially patriarchal. However, Vietnamese women are expected to gain employment and to a large extent do double work as the woman is usually responsible for child rearing and often handles the family’s finances.

As in several countries in the region, women and girls are highly affected by human trafficking as a result. During the 2010s, trafficking in human beings, a result of growing demand for, among other things, black labor from neighboring countries, but mainly increased trafficking of women and children primarily sold for sexual exploitation, most ethnic minority women forced into China, for example.

A crucial problem for human rights organizations working with human trafficking is that the organizations are controlled and registered by the country’s authorities. The organizations are only allowed to work under strict state supervision.

There is limited freedom of expression in Vietnam. The country’s authorities are using the Criminal Code’s rules to “abuse the right to democracy and freedom by infringing on state interests” to imprison human rights activists and political opponents.

Free unions and opposition parties are prohibited by law. Regime-critical writers, bloggers, and legal activists risk being threatened and harassed by the police. It is not uncommon for arbitrary arrests and long-term detention without access to legal counsel or family visits.

In Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index for 2015, Vietnam is ranked among 175 blacklisted states in 175 of 178 controlled countries.

Heads of State

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam 1954-75)

The state of Vietnam

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Leader of the Communist Party