President of Vietnam - Duties, Powers and Responsibilities

Duties, Powers and Responsibilities

The President is the head of state of Vietnam, and his main priority is to represent Vietnam internally and externally. The officeholder is elected by the National Assembly of Vietnam, is responsible to it and reports to it. The tenure of the President is five years, the same as that of the National Assembly. The President continues to serve in his functions until the National Assembly elects a successor. The President has the following executive and legislative powers:

• He promulgates laws, decree-laws and the Constitution.
• He acts as the country's commander-in-chief and holds the office of Chairman of the National Defense and Security Council.
• He can propose to the National Assembly the election or dismissal from office of the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Head of the Supreme People's Office of Supervision and Control.
• On the basis of a resolution from the National Assembly or its Standing Committee, the President can appoint or dismiss deputy prime ministers, ministers and other members of government.
• The President can proclaim a state of war or amnesty on the basis of a National Assembly resolution.
• On the basis of a Standing Committee resolution, the President can order a general or partial mobilisation, or can proclaim a state of emergency nationwide or in a particular region.
• The President can propose that the Standing Committee review its decree-laws and resolutions on matters stipulated in Points 8 and 9, Article 91, within the space of ten days following their adoption; if those decree-laws and resolutions are again passed by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly with the country's President dissenting, the latter shall report the matter to the National Assembly for it to decide the issue at its nearest session.
• The President can appoint or dismiss the vice presidents and judges of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Office of Supervision and Control Deputy Head.
• He confers titles and ranks on senior officers of the Vietnam People's armed forces and bestows "diplomatic titles and ranks, and other State titles and ranks; to confer medals, badges and State honours and distinctions".
• The President can appoint and recall ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and can receive foreign ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, to negotiate and sign international agreements on behalf of the Socialist Republic with the Heads of other States; he can approve or join international agreements, except in cases where a decision by the National Assembly is necessary.
• He can grant Vietnamese nationality, release from Vietnamese nationality, or deprive of Vietnamese nationality.
• He can grant pardons.

The National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) is composed of the President, the Vice President and other members. The members of the NDSC are proposed by the President and approved by the National Assembly. NDSC members do not need to be members of the National Assembly. The decision-making process of the NDSC is that of a collective leadership. Among its powers is the right to mobilise all forces in the name of national defense, and in case of war the National Assembly can entrust the NDSC with special duties and powers.