List of prime ministers of Vietnam

The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Thủ tướng Chính phủ nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam), known as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Hội đồng Bộ trưởng) from 1981 to 1992, is the highest office within the Central Government. The prime minister is simultaneously the Secretary of the Government Caucus Commission, a Party organ on government affairs, and Deputy Chairman of the Council for Defence and Security, an organ of the National Assembly.[1] Throughout its history, the office has been responsible, at least in theory but not always in practice, for handling Vietnam's internal policies. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Vietnam being the sole party allowed by the constitution, all the prime ministers of the Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic have been members of the party while holding office. The current prime minister is Phạm Minh Chính, since 5 April 2021. He is sixth-ranked in the Political Bureau (Politburo).[2][note 1]

The Office of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to Hồ Chí Minh, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic. The office has no official connection, or lineage, to the heads of government of the former South Vietnam (with the exception of Huỳnh Tấn Phát, a communist and the last head of government of South Vietnam). Officially there have been 8 prime ministers of Vietnam,[3] but there have been 29 prime ministers of Vietnam if the prime ministers of the Empire of Vietnam and South Vietnam are counted.[4]

The Prime Minister is elected by the proposal of the President of Vietnam to the National Assembly and is responsible to the National Assembly, which elects all ministers to government. Activity reports by the Prime Minister must be given to the National Assembly, while the Standing Committee of the National Assembly supervises the activities of the Central Government and the Prime Minister. Finally, the deputies of the National Assembly have the right to question the Prime Minister and other members of government.[5]

Legends

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Colour key
(for political parties)
  Cochinchinese Democratic Party
  Military (VNA / RVNMF)
  National Liberation Front (Việt Cộng)
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
Chief of Cabinet of the Empire of Vietnam
1Trần Trọng Kim
(1883–1953)
17 April 194523 August 1945128 daysNational Socialist Party of Daiviet [vi]

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–76)

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Status
  Denotes Acting Prime Minister
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
1   Hồ Chí Minh
(1890–1969)[6]
17 August 1945 20 September 1955 10 years, 34 days Communist Party of Indochina
(until 1951)
Worker's Party of Vietnam
(from 1951)
  Huỳnh Thúc Kháng
(1876–1947)[7]
31 May 1946 21 September 1946 113 days Independent
Prime Minister of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
2   Phạm Văn Đồng
(1906–2000)
20 September 1955 2 July 1976 20 years, 286 days Worker's Party of Vietnam

State of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam (1949–1975)

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No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
 
State of Vietnam (1949–1955)
1   Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy

(Bảo Đại)
(1913–1997)

14 June 1949 21 January 1950 191 days Independent
2 Nguyễn Phan Long
(1889–1960)
21 January 1950 27 April 1950 96 days Constitution Party
3 Trần Văn Hữu
(1896–1984)
6 May 1950 3 June 1952 2 years, 28 days Independent
4   Nguyễn Văn Tâm
(1893–1990)
23 June 1952 17 December 1953 1 year, 167 days Nationalist Party
5   Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lộc
(1914–1990)
11 January 1954 16 June 1954 156 days Independent
6   Ngô Đình Diệm
(1901–1963)
16 June 1954 26 October 1955 1 year, 132 days Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party
 
Republic of Vietnam (1955–1975)
1   Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ
(1908–1976)
4 November 1963 28 February 1964 85 days Independent
(2)   Nguyễn Khánh
(1927–2013)
28 February 1964 27 August 1964 203 days Military
Nguyễn Xuân Oánh
(1921–2003)
29 August 1964 3 September 1964 5 days Independent
(2)   Nguyễn Khánh
(1927–2013)
Acting
3 September 1964 4 November 1964 62 days Military
3   Trần Văn Hương
(1902–1982)
4 November 1964 27 January 1965 84 days Independent
Nguyễn Xuân Oánh
(1921–2003)
Acting
27 January 1965 15 February 1965 19 days Independent
4   Phan Huy Quát
(1908–1979)
16 February 1965 5 June 1965 109 days Nationalist Party
5   Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
(1930–2011)
14 June 1965 1 September 1967 2 years, 74 days Military
6   Nguyễn Văn Lộc
(1922–1992)
1 November 1967 17 May 1968 259 days Military
(3)   Trần Văn Hương 28 May 1968 22 August 1969 1 year, 96 days National Social Democratic Front
7   Trần Thiện Khiêm
(1925–2021)
22 August 1969 5 April 1975 5 years, 215 days National Social Democratic Front
8   Nguyễn Bá Cẩn
(1930–2009)
5 April 1975 25 April 1975 19 days Vietnam Workers and Farmers Party
9   Vũ Văn Mẫu
(1914–1998)
28 April 1975 30 April 1975 2 days Force for National Reconciliation

Vietnam (1976–present)

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Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present)

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Status
  Denotes Acting Chairman of the Council of Ministers/Prime Minister
No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
1   Phạm Văn Đồng
(1906–2000)
2 July 1976 18 December 1980 4 years, 167 days Communist Party of Vietnam
Chairman of the Council of Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
1   Phạm Văn Đồng
(1906–2000)
18 December 1980 18 June 1987 6 years, 182 days Communist Party of Vietnam
2   Police senior colonel
Phạm Hùng
(1912–1988)
18 June 1987 10 March 1988† 273 days
3   Đỗ Mười
(1917–2018)
22 June 1988 9 August 1991 3 years, 48 days
  Võ Văn Kiệt
(1922–2008)
10 March 1988 22 June 1988 104 days
4 9 August 1991 22 September 1992 1 year, 44 days
Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
4   Võ Văn Kiệt
(1922–2008)
22 September 1992 25 September 1997 5 years, 3 days Communist Party of Vietnam
5   Phan Văn Khải
(1934–2018)[8]
25 September 1997 27 June 2006
resigned
8 years, 275 days
6   Army Major
Nguyễn Tấn Dũng
(born 1949)
27 June 2006 6 April 2016 9 years, 284 days
7   Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
(born 1954)
7 April 2016 5 April 2021 4 years, 363 days
8   Police lieutenant general
Phạm Minh Chính
(born 1958)
5 April 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 240 days

Timeline

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Phạm Minh ChínhNguyễn Xuân PhúcNguyễn Tấn DũngPhan Văn KhảiĐỗ MườiVõ Văn KiệtPhạm HùngPhạm Văn ĐồngHuỳnh Thúc KhángHồ Chí MinhVũ Văn MẫuNguyễn Bá CẩnTrần Thiện KhiêmNguyễn Văn LộcNguyen Cao KỳPhan Huy QuátTrần Văn HươngNguyễn Xuân OánhNguyễn KhánhNguyễn Ngọc ThơNgô Đình DiệmNguyễn Phúc Bửu LộcNguyễn Văn TâmTrần Văn HữuNguyễn Phan LongBảo Đại

See also

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Notes

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1.^ The Politburo of the Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the CPV and the Central Government. The membership composition, and the order of rank of the individual Politburo members is decided in an election within the newly formed Central Committee in the aftermath of a Party Congress.[9] The Central Committee can overrule the Politburo, but that does not happen often.[10]
2.^ These numbers are official. The "—" denotes acting head of government. The first column shows how many heads of government there have been in Vietnamese history, while the second show how many heads of government there was in that state.
3.^ The Central Committee when it convenes for its first session after being elected by a National Party Congress elects the Politburo.[9] According to David Koh, in interviews with several high-standing Vietnamese officials, the Politburo ranking is based upon the number of approval votes by the Central Committee. Lê Hồng Anh, the Minister of Public Security, was ranked 2nd in the 10th Politburo because he received the second-highest number of approval votes. Another example being Tô Huy Rứa of the 10th Politburo, he was ranked lowest because he received the lowest approval vote of the 10th Central Committee when he was standing for election for a seat in the Politburo. This system was implemented at the 1st plenum of the 10th Central Committee.[11] The Politburo ranking functioned as an official order of precedence before the 10th Party Congress, and some believe it still does.[9]
4.^ Phạm Văn Đồng became 4th-ranked member in the Politburo hierarchy when Hồ Chí Minh, the 1st ranked, died in 1969.[12]
5.^ Phạm Văn Đồng was ranked 2nd in the Politburo hierarchy when Lê Duẩn, the General Secretary of the Central Committee, died on 10 July 1986.
6.^ Died in office.

References

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General
The prime ministers, and when they took and left office, was taken from these sources:

  • "Trần Trọng Kim" (PDF) (in Vietnamese). giaocam.saigonline.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  • "Cac Thu Tuong Chinh Phu Tien Nhiem" [Predecessors of the current Prime Minister] (in Vietnamese). Government of Vietnam. Retrieved 15 September 2012.

Specific

  1. ^ "Quyet đinh cua Ban Bi thư so 48-QĐ/TW: Ve viec lap Ban Can su đang o cac bo va co quan ngang bo, ngay 14 thang 12 nam 1992" [The decision of the Secretariat of 48-QD/TW: Commission for Elaboration of the party in government ministries and ministerial-level agencies, 14 December 1992] (in Vietnamese). Communist Party of Vietnam. 20 June 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Party Congress announces CPVCC Politburo members". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Cac Thu Tuong Chinh Phu Tien Nhiem" [The Predecessors of the Prime Minister] (in Vietnamese). Office of the Prime Minister. thutuong-chinhphu.vn. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Vietnam". worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Political system". Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  6. ^ President is also head of government.
  7. ^ Acting president is also interim head of government.
  8. ^ T. Chung (17 March 2018). "Nguyên Thủ tướng Phan Văn Khải từ trần ở tuổi 85". Tuổi Trẻ. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Van & Cooper 1983, p. 69.
  10. ^ Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). The Lessons of Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics. Vietnamese Professionals of America The Catholic University of America. p. 12.
  11. ^ Koh 2008, p. 666.
  12. ^ Woods 2002, p. 74.

Bibliography

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