Holding multiple roles: As widely anticipated by observers, the National Assembly officially elected Lê Minh Hưng as prime minister today, April 7, 2026. His victory caps off a period where he simultaneously oversaw elections, won a National Assembly seat, and secured the premiership.
Event timeline: Lawmakers voted unanimously by secret ballot on the afternoon of April 7, during the first session of the 16th National Assembly.
Following the vote, the inauguration ceremony was broadcast live on Vietnam Television (VTV1) later that same afternoon.
This election follows the 14th Congress of the Communist Party in January, where Lê Minh Hưng was re-elected to the Politburo and the Secretariat. Concurrently, former Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính was excluded from the new Central Committee.
During the 16th National Assembly election held in March, Lê Minh Hưng simultaneously served on the National Election Council, ran as a candidate, and won a parliamentary seat.
Interestingly, he ran for his parliamentary seat in Hải Phòng—the former electoral stronghold of previous prime ministers Nguyễn Tấn Dũng and Nguyễn Xuân Phúc—despite originating from Hà Tĩnh, residing in Hà Nội, and having no prior work history in Hải Phòng.
Key point: The new term’s top leadership structure has fully taken shape, featuring General Secretary and President Tô Lâm, Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng, National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn, and Standing Member of the Secretariat Trần Cẩm Tú.
Speaking to Luật Khoa Magazine last week, political analyst Nguyễn Anh Tuấn described this arrangement as “a very strong general secretary paired with a very weak prime minister.” He noted that Lê Minh Hưng is relatively young and lacks the local governance experience of his predecessors.
“The power of the government will gradually narrow, while the party apparatus will grow stronger,” Tuấn said.
Censorship: The first session of the 16th National Assembly was broadcast live only for the closing session and inauguration ceremonies. The public was not allowed to observe the election process for the National Assembly chairman and other state leaders.
Profile: Born in 1970 in Hà Tĩnh, Lê Minh Hưng is the son of Senior Lieutenant General Lê Minh Hương. He stands out as the sole member of the 14th Politburo with a specialized background in finance and economics.
After earning a master’s degree in economics from Saitama University in Japan, he built his career at the State Bank of Việt Nam. He served as its governor from April 2016 to October 2020 before transitioning into the party apparatus as chief of the Party Central Office. He was elevated to the 13th Politburo in May 2024 and was appointed head of the Central Organization Commission on May 16, 2024.
Context: Observers have long anticipated this outcome. In December 2025, Professor Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales told BBC News Vietnamese that speculation regarding Lê Minh Hưng replacing Phạm Minh Chính was well-founded for two reasons: (i) Tô Lâm seeks to maintain power as the top leader, and (ii) Việt Nam’s top priority in the coming period is economic development.
International bettors on Polymarket were also confident in his election. As of 12:00 p.m. Việt Nam time on April 6, the odds of Lê Minh Hưng becoming prime minister stood at 98%, up from 96% recorded at 3:00 p.m. on March 18.
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 7, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.
