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Việt Nam’s National Assembly is expected to re-elect Trần Thanh Mẫn as chairman during the first session of its 16th term, which runs from April 6 to April 24.

This re-election, alongside the appointments of the president and prime minister, is part of a broader leadership consolidation process prioritized in the opening days of the legislative term.

And on the morning of April 6, during the first working day of the first session of the 16th National Assembly, Trần Thanh Mẫn was elected chairman of the National Assembly by secret ballot, with 100% of attending deputies voting in favor.

Vietnam Television broadcast the oath-taking ceremony of the chairman of the 16th National Assembly live at noon the same day on VTV1.

The first session of the 16th National Assembly only broadcast live the closing session and the oath-taking ceremony. The public was not allowed to follow the process of electing the chairman of the National Assembly and other new state leaders.

Born in 1962 in Hậu Giang, Mẫn rose from a local youth union official to become one of the most powerful figures within the Communist Party of Vietnam.

From 1979 to 1994, he advanced through the Party ranks, working in district and provincial youth unions, from a district-level cadre to secretary of the Cần Thơ Youth Union.

From 1994 to 2010, he began holding government positions, rising from chief of office of the provincial People’s Committee to chairman of the People’s Committee of Cần Thơ.

From 2011 to 2021, he was elected to the Party’s Central Committee and built his career within the Vietnam Fatherland Front, eventually becoming chairman of its Central Committee.

From 2021 to the present, Mẫn has been a member of the Politburo.

On May 20, 2024, during the 7th session of the 15th National Assembly, he was elected chairman of the National Assembly. Prior to that, he served for many years as a National Assembly deputy from Cần Thơ and was elected vice chairman of the National Assembly by the 14th National Assembly.

Having assumed the role in 2024, Trần Thanh Mẫn is expected to retain the position without significant contest, reflecting continuity in the country’s leadership for the 2026-2031 period.

Under Việt Nam’s political system, candidates for senior positions are typically selected through internal processes of the Communist Party before being submitted to the National Assembly. The legislature then formalizes these selections through voting procedures, which many view as procedural rather than competitive.

According to Luật Khoa Magazine, the session’s tight schedule includes specific steps for personnel decisions, from nomination and discussion to voting and oath-taking. However, the structure has raised transparency concerns. The lack of live broadcasting for certain key stages, such as the actual voting on leadership positions, limits public visibility.

Furthermore, the timeline appears to anticipate outcomes in advance by detailing oath-taking ceremonies before votes are formally conducted. Observers note that this sequencing reinforces the perception that leadership decisions finalize before formal legislative approval.

Despite these concerns regarding transparency and the structured nature of the political process, the session is expected to proceed as planned. The National Assembly will fulfill its constitutional role in electing top state officials while also reviewing draft laws and discussing socio-economic issues for the upcoming term.

Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 6, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights for the English translation.