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Bảo Khánh wrote this Vietnamese article, published in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 30, 2025.

Under the leadership of Communist Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, Việt Nam is revising its 2013 Constitution to streamline its political apparatus. A timeline of key developments that provides a comprehensive view of the institutional reform process can be found below.

The Communist Party of Việt Nam Gives a Deadline of June 30, 2025 to Amend the Constitution Feb. 28, 2025 : The Politburo and the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Việt Nam issued Conclusion No. 127 . The directive called for a review, amendment, and supplementation of party regulations, the 2013 Constitution, and state laws, primarily focusing on restructuring the political apparatus. The Party Delegation of the National Assembly was assigned to lead this effort in coordination with the Party Delegation of the Government. A firm completion deadline of June 30, 2025, was imposed for the task.

March 3, 2025 : Domestic newspaper Tuổi Trẻ published an article titled “Amending the Constitution to Reform the Apparatus,” quoting experts calling for thorough preparation. In contrast, BBC Vietnamese questioned the underlying motives for the constitutional revision.

March 4, 2025 : Radio Free Asia (RFA) writer Trần Hiếu Chân argued that the administrative restructuring was a tactical ploy to consolidate power under General Secretary Tô Lâm.

National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn opened the 43rd session, declaring the constitutional amendment a central issue for the legislature.

March 10, 2025 : National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn opened the 43rd session, emphasizing that amending the 2013 Constitution would be a central issue for the legislature. That same day, the Politburo released Conclusion No. 129 to outline its specific amendment policies, and the Government followed suit with its implementation plan in Document No. 1910 .

March 11, 2025 : The National Assembly announced that the constitutional amendments would be reviewed during its upcoming 9th session.

March 12: Debate Erupts

Several experts shared their perspectives with RFA Vietnamese regarding the Politburo’s directive to amend the 2013 Constitution.

March 12, 2025 : Atty. Nguyễn Văn Đài told RFA Vietnamese that the process risked constitutional violations if the media portrayed the Politburo, rather than the President or the National Assembly's Standing Committee, as the authority initiating the amendment. He further suggested that genuine reform would require amending Article 4 of the 2013 Constitution that involves the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam.

Meanwhile, Professor Carl Thayer commented that the changes would have minimal institutional impact if they were limited to administrative organization.

March 14, 2025 : The Ministry of Justice revealed concrete proposals, including merging Articles 9 and 10, amending Clause 1 of Article 84, and notably removing the right of Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) member organizations to propose legislation.

March 17, 2025 : The National Assembly's Party Delegation, Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn called for intensified communication efforts to align public opinion with the Party's directives. He warned against any attempts to exploit the situation for "subversion or misinformation.”

March 21, 2025 : Luật Khoa published an article by Hoàng Mai, who argued that the National Assembly and the public were sidelined entirely from the constitutional amendment process. The author contended that this was unconstitutional and highlighted the party’s dominance over the Constitution and the people.

March 24, 2025 : The Party Delegation of the National Assembly met for a second time to provide feedback on the draft. Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn stressed the need for public consultation, which was scheduled for May and June.

March 31, 2025 : Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn announced that the National Assembly would convene early, on May 5, 2025, to discuss the constitutional amendments and other critical issues.

April 2, 2025 : An article in the Lâm Đồng newspaper denied allegations that "populist tactics" were being used during the public consultation period.

April 4, 2025 : Luật Khoa Magazine released another critical analysis , this time highlighting perceived signs of unconstitutionality related to the government's streamlining agenda.

April 6, 2025 : The National Assembly Standing Committee issued a formal resolution to convene the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly.

April 12, 2025 : The 13th Central Committee passed Resolution No. 60 , officially approving the constitutional amendment plan and associated legal reforms.

The amendments would focus on provisions related to the Việt Nam Fatherland Front (VFF), various socio-political organizations, and local governance, all aimed at supporting the restructuring of the political apparatus.

At the same time, the party set a deadline to complete the constitutional amendment process by June 30, with the new Constitution taking effect on July 1.

April 14, 2025 : The Central Steering Committee convened to review the implementation of Resolution 18 . General Secretary Tô Lâm emphasized that legal reforms must be preemptive to establish a solid legal framework. That same afternoon, the National Assembly Standing Committee concluded its 44th session, finalizing the necessary constitutional amendment documents.

Following this, these documents were made publicly accessible by April 15, 2025.

April 16, 2025 : The Politburo and Secretariat held a massive nationwide conference to implement the Central Committee’s 11th Plenum resolution. This hybrid meeting connected nearly 21,000 government offices and involved over 1.5 million participants.

During this conference, Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn reiterated the June 30 deadline for the amendments and July 1 enforcement date. He also outlined a timeline for subsequent transitional measures, requiring completion at the commune level by August 15 and at the provincial level by September 15.

April 25, 2025 : The National Assembly Standing Committee submitted a proposal to National Assembly deputies to establish a "Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee" to amend and supplement several articles of the 2013 Constitution. The proposal outlined a 15-member committee structure, comprising a chair (the National Assembly Chairman), three vice-chairs, three permanent members, and eight additional members.

National Assembly Deliberation May 5, 2025 : The historic session of Việt Nam's National Assembly begins .

The National Assembly passed Resolution No. 194 on amending the Constitution and Resolution No. 195 on establishing the Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee.

Members of the Committee include:

National Assembly Chair Trần Thanh Mẫn (Chairman) Executive Secretary of the Central Party Secretariat Trần Cẩm Tú (Vice-Chairman) Deputy National Assembly Chair Nguyễn Khắc Định (Vice-Chairman) Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long (Vice-Chairman) Chairman of the National Assembly’s Legal and Judicial Committee Hoàng Thanh Tùng (Permanent Member)- Minister of Justice Nguyễn Hải Ninh (Permanent Member) Vice-Chairman and General Secretary of the VFF Central Committee Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà (Member) Chairman of the National Assembly’s Petition and Oversight Committee Dương Thanh Bình (Member) Secretary General of the National Assembly and Chief of the Office of the National Assembly Lê Quang Tùng (Member) Deputy Head of the Central Organizing Commission Nguyễn Quang Dương (Member) Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission Nguyễn Thanh Hải (Member) Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission Phạm Tất Thắng (Member) Deputy Minister of Public Security Lê Quốc Hùng (Member) Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cao Huy (Member) The new Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee held its first session that afternoon and passed six documents, while Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn announced that the public consultation period for the draft amendments would officially begin on May 6.

Phan Thúy Hà raised concerns on her Facebook page that some summary opinion forms in Phúc Đồng commune (Hương Khê District, Hà Tĩnh Province) had been fabricated. Residents there claimed the surveys they received only mentioned a merger; there was nothing about renaming their commune. Yet, the official results showed 98.82% approval for a new name, "Hương Bình.”

After formal complaints were filed, the situation escalated; commune police visited the homes of those who posted online, and a village official was also accused of threatening those who spoke up.

May 6, 2025 : The Government Office issued Document No. 3883 to guide the public consultation process, appointing the Ministry of Justice as the lead agency to oversee implementation across all sectors and localities. A key component of this process was the online opinion collection system managed by the Ministry of Public Security via the VNeID app, which ran from May 6 to May 29.

May 7, 2025 : The National Assembly discussed the draft resolution to amend the Constitution in group sessions. They received 102 comments from National Assembly delegates.

May 11, 2025 : Phan Thúy Hà, previously known for raising concerns about fabricated summary opinion forms, posted on Facebook that an article she wrote questioning local administrative renaming had been taken down by a news outlet—Agriculture and Environment News—just one day after publication.

May 12, 2025 : Another Facebook commentator, Thái Hạo, commented on the incident involving Phan Thúy Hà and criticized the public consultation process: “In merging and renaming, there is a crucial step—‘consulting the people’—yet in reality, it is often superficial and insincere. We must fundamentally change this approach rather than ignore it or intimidate those who speak out.”

May 13, 2025 : General Secretary Tô Lâm called for the expanded use of digital technology to collect public consultation nationwide at a Party Secretariat meeting .

May 14, 2025 : The National Assembly continued discussions on the constitutional amendment and the revised Law on Local Government Formation. During the discussion session, 37 delegates voiced their opinions, including four who engaged in debates and 12 who provided feedback on both draft proposals.

There were also dissenting views that emerged, notably from delegate Nguyễn Thị Kim Thúy of Đà Nẵng, who opposed a proposal to revoke the People's Council’s right to question chief judges and procurators. She asked, “If citizens are wronged, who will they turn to for accountability?”

That same day, at a Ministry of Justice conference to gather public feedback on the draft resolution to amend the Constitution., Lt. Col. Trần Duy Hiển—the Deputy Director of the National Population Data Center— announced that the VNeID app had already collected over 4.3 million responses, with 99.9% supporting the amendments.

State-run media amplified this message, stating that the majority approved the amendments to the 2013 Constitution. An article in Hà Nội Mới newspaper praised the wide-scale consultation as proof that the Party and State "place the people at the center," while dismissing critics like RFA as "absurd, meaningless rhetoric, contrary to national interests."

May 16, 2025 : Government News, an online newspaper of the Vietnamese government, described the constitutional amendment for the 2013 Constitution as a “lever for institutional development” that would benefit both the economy and private sector.

Rising Concerns over Tokenism in the Public Consultation May 17, 2025 : Atty. Ngọc Lan posted on Facebook, criticizing the consultation process as superficial and quota-driven. She shared that her own child, who had not yet graduated from high school, was required to submit feedback on the amendments simply to meet a quota, a claim that was echoed by others in the comments.

From May 18–22, 2025 : A coalition of civil society groups, including the ICS Center , ISEE Institute , and Tôi Đồng Ý , launched coordinated Facebook campaigns. These campaigns, which gained significant public traction online, urged for the revision of Articles 36 and 26 of the Constitution to better protect LGBTIQ+ rights.

May 20, 2025 : The Việt Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations hosted a conference to gather input on the draft. At the event, Dr. Phạm Văn Tân, the union's former Vice Chairman, urged the government to limit the amendments to administrative restructuring. He also advocated for a two-tier local government system and proposed clearer definitions within Point 1 of Article 110.

That same day, Luật Khoa Magazine published an article by Hoàng Mai, criticizing the privileged constitutional status of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front. The Vietnamese Magazine also published the English version of that article on May 28, 2025.

Debate Over “Special Provisions” for Socio-Political Organizations May 21, 2025 : A consultation meeting held by the Việt Nam Fatherland Front’s Hồ Chí Minh City Committee (VFF’s HCMC Committee) became a key forum for debating the constitutional status of other major socio-political organizations. The central issue was whether groups such as the Farmers’ Union, Youth Union, Trade Union, and Women’s Union should be explicitly named in the Constitution and if they should be subordinate to the VFF.

Ung Thị Xuân Hương, Chairman of the Hồ Chí Minh City Lawyers’ Association, argued that making these groups subordinate to the VFF would contradict their nature as voluntary coalitions. She also questioned the special status granted to the Trade Union, which has its own constitutional article, while the other organizations do not.

Echoing this sentiment, Atty. Trương Thị Hòa, Vice Chairman of the HCM Commercial Arbitration Center, contended that the Constitution should remain abstract and avoid naming specific organizations.

In contrast, Atty. Nguyễn Văn Hậu, Deputy Chairman of the HCM City Bar Association, supported consolidating the major socio-political groups under the VFF to affirm its central coordinating role. However, he stressed that this would require the creation of concrete mechanisms to prevent the VFF's role from becoming mere tokenism and to ensure meaningful public oversight.

May 22, 2025 : The Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee held its second session , reviewing over two weeks of public consultation. According to the Ministry of Public Security, over 70.9 million responses had been submitted via VNeID, with 99.95% in favor of the draft.

May 23, 2025 : The Việt Nam Association for Administrative Sciences held a feedback conference .

Trần Ngọc Đường, former Deputy Chief of the National Assembly Office, supported the overall amendment but argued that Clause 1 of Article 110 should explicitly define a two-tier administrative system—the country divided into provinces and centrally governed cities; provinces divided into communes, wards, and special zones.

Đường also opposed removing the People's Council’s right to question chief judges and prosecutors, labeling it a fundamental constitutional right and a core principle of governance. Disagreeing on a key point, former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Trần Anh Tuấn argued against listing lower-level administrative units in the Constitution, though he supported clearer wording to reflect the current reality.

May 24, 2025 : Approximately 14 million people had submitted feedback via the VNeID app.

Nguyễn Thị Hạnh, Director of the Criminal and Administrative Law Department at the Ministry of Justice, reported key public input focused on:

Amending Articles 9 and 10: transferring socio-political organizations under the VFF Revising Article 110: clarifying administrative unit structure below the provincial level Maintaining Clause 2, Article 110: requiring local consultation before administrative boundary changes Preserving Clause 2, Article 115: upholding the People's Council’s right to question the judiciary and procuracy May 25, 2025 : A Ministry of Justice task force met to review the government’s draft report and review public feedback. They concluded that the campaign was the most extensive and structured constitutional consultation to date. By the evening of May 26,