12th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The 12th Secretariat was led by a general secretary, who formally directed its work, and a permanent member of the Secretariat, responsible for its day-to-day work. Nguyễn Phú Trọng was elected general secretary on 27 January 2016 and remained in office for the duration of the Central Committee's term, while the 12th Politburo appointed Đinh Thế Huynh as the permanent member of the secretariat on 4 February 2016.^[3] He held this position until 2 March 2018, when he was relieved of his duties and succeeded by Trần Quốc Vượng.^[4] Đinh Thế Huynh had been on sick leave since July 2017 to undergo medical treatment for an undisclosed health problem.^[4] On 28 July 2017, the 12th Politburo convened to discuss the proposal of the Central Organisation Commission (COC) to assign a politburo member as the standing member of the Secretariat in light of Đinh Thế Huynh's health problems: it appointed Trần Quốc Vượng to serve in an acting capacity from 1 August 2017 onwards.^[5] BBC News concluded that Trần Quốc Vượng was most likely selected as the permanent member to strengthen the ongoing anti-corruption campaign unleashed under Nguyễn Phú Trọng's leadership. Trần Quốc Vượng had gained experience in anti-corruption work in his earlier stint as the director of the Supreme People's Procuracy.^[4] On 2 March 2018, the 12th Politburo convened yet again, ordering Đinh Thế Huynh to resign from office and appointing Trần Quốc Vượng in his place.^[6]

At first, the composition of the 12th Secretariat was the same as that of the 11th electoral term, and stood at ten members. The first three members (LÆ°Æ¡ng Cường, Nguyễn Văn Nên and Nguyễn Hòa Bình) were elected on 27 January 2016 by the 1st Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee. That session ordered the 12th Politburo to assign individuals from its own ranks to serve in the Secretariat.^[7] A week later, on 4 February, the 12th Politburo convened and assigned six members to the secretariat: Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Đinh Thế Huynh, Trần Quốc Vượng, Phạm Minh Chính, Võ Văn Thưởng and TrÆ°Æ¡ng Thị Mai.^[8] Of these, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Đinh Thế Huynh and Trần Quốc Vượng had served in the 11th Secretariat.^[9] This politburo meeting also assigned the work responsibilities of the members, appointing them to head administrative working bodies of the CPV Central Committee apparatus. Phạm Minh Chính was appointed to lead the COC, Võ Văn Thưởng to direct the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, TrÆ°Æ¡ng Thị Mai to oversee the Central Mass Mobilisation Commission and Nguyễn Văn Nên to manage the Central Office [vi]. Trần Quốc Vượng served in the Secretariat as the chairman of the Central Inspection Commission.^[8] Two months later, it was made public that the 12th Politburo had assigned Nguyễn Văn Bình, the former governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, to head the Central Economic Commission [vi] from 11 April 2016.^[10]

On 7 October 2017, the 6th Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee elected Phan Đình Trạc and Nguyễn Xuân Thắng [vi] to the Secretariat. Up to that point, Phan Đình Trạc had served as chairman of the party's Central Internal Affairs Commission [vi], while Nguyễn Xuân Thắng concurrently held the positions of rector of the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration [vi] and vice chairman of the Central Theoretical Council.^[11] Two months later, on 14 October, Nguyễn Xuân Thắng was assigned on the orders of the 12th Politburo to serve as acting chair of the Central Theoretical Council since Đinh Thế Huynh could no longer fulfil his duties due to health problems.^[12] With Đinh Thế Huynh's health problems worsening, Nguyễn Xuân Thắng was appointed in his place on 2 March 2018.^[6] At the 12th Central Committee's seventh plenum on 9 May, Trần Cẩm Tú and Trần Thanh Mẫn were elected to the secretariat. Trần Cẩm Tú had earlier the same day been elected as chairman of the CPV Central Inspection Commission, while Trần Thanh Mẫn had previously served as the secretary of the Cần ThÆ¡ City Party Committee [vi] before being elected as the chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.^[13]