Prime Minister of Vietnam - Duties, Powers and Responsibilities

Duties, Powers and Responsibilities

The National Assembly by a proposal of the President of Vietnam elects the prime minister. The prime minister is responsible to the National Assembly, and the Assembly 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.

The prime minister is the only member of government who must be a member of the National Assembly. This is because the prime minister is accountable to the National Assembly, and he reports to it, or to its Standing Committee, and to the president. The prime minister issues directives and supervises the implementation of formal orders given by the president, the National Assembly or the Standing Committee. Cabinet members and members of the Central Government in general are responsible to the prime minister and the National Assembly for the fields they specialise in. According to the Constitution of Vietnam, the following are the duties, powers and responsibilities of the prime minister:

• To head the Central Government, and direct the works of members of the Central Government, the People's Councils at all levels and to chair the meetings of the Cabinet;
• To propose to the National Assembly that ministries, or organs with ministerial rank, be established or dissolved; to present to the National Assembly or, when the latter is not in session, to its Standing Committee, for approval, proposals on the appointment, release from duty, or dismissal of deputy prime ministers, cabinet ministers and other members of the Government;
• To appoint, release from duty, or dismiss deputy ministers and officials of equal rank; to approve the election, release from duty, secondment and dismissal of chairmen and deputy chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities under direct central rule;
• To suspend or annul decisions, directives and circulars of cabinet ministers and other Government members, decisions and directives of People's Councils and chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities under direct central rule that contravene the Constitution, the law, or other formal written documents of superior State organs;
• To suspend the execution of resolutions of People's Councils of provinces and cities under direct central rule that contravene the Constitution, the law, or the formal written orders of superior State organs; at the same time to propose to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to annul them;
• To make regular reports to the people through the mass media on major issues to be settled by the Government.
• When the prime minister is absent, he must choose one of his deputy prime ministers to direct the work of the government.

The prime minister serves concurrently as the secretary of the CPV Government Caucus Commission. The National Assembly chairman serves as the commission's deputy. Currently there are ten members of the Commission, all of whom hold government posts. Commission members are appointed by the Politburo, and the Commission itself is responsible to the Politburo and the Secretariat. The decision-making process within the Commission is based on the principles of collective leadership.