Vietnam (officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) is a socialist state which implements a political system of single party. The only legal party in Vietnam – the Communist Party of Vietnam plays the central role on political arena of Vietnam. This was documented in article 4 of the 1992 Constitution.
The head of the Communist Party of Vietnam now is the General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Besides the functions of leading the party, the General Secretary also manages all organs of government, politics and society.
The National Assembly of Vietnam, according to the Constitution, is the highest organ that represents Vietnamese people as well as the highest authority agency of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This is the sole agency that holds both constitutional and legislative power. Functions of the National Assembly of Vietnam are monitoring and deciding the basic policies on internal and external relations, economy, society, defense and security, as well as the key principles of the State apparatus, the social relations and activities of citizens. The National Assembly of Vietnam also established the Politburo as an executive committee of the ruling Communist Party. The number of the National Assembly of Vietnam is 500 delegates and they work in a term of 5 years. In the National Assembly of Vietnam, members of the Communist Party of Vietnam are accounted for 90%. The National Assembly of Vietnam is now headed by the Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.
The President of Vietnam, currently Mr. Truong Tan Sang, is elected by the National Assembly according to the Constitution. Term of president is a five-year period and it doesn’t limit the number of terms that one person do. The President of Vietnam proposes the National Assembly to appoint or dismiss Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief of The Supreme People’s Court, Chairman of the People’s Procuracy.
Vietnam, under the direction of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is on the way ofbuilding an equitable, democratic and civilised societyas well as socialist-oriented nation. Political status of Vietnam is stable and remains a close relationship between people and the ruling Communist Party. Therefore, Vietnam ranked 34th among 158 countries in 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI) according to the research of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
