Vietnam elects new National Assembly as To Lam consolidates party and state power

Overview

Vietnam's Communist Party has governed through collective leadership since reunification in 1976, splitting power among four pillars: the party general secretary, the state president, the prime minister, and the National Assembly chairman. That structure is now shifting. On March 15, 2026, nearly 73.5 million voters went to the polls to elect 500 members of the 16th National Assembly from a slate of 864 candidates, 93 percent of whom belong to the ruling Communist Party. When the new legislature convenes in April, it will formally appoint a leadership lineup already chosen at January's Party Congress—one that places To Lam, the former security chief, atop both the party and the state.

In This Story

3 Videos

4 People

To Lam formally assumes dual party-state leadership, accelerates growth agenda

3 Context

Xi Jinping's consolidation of power in China (2012–2018)

Key Indicators

73.5M

Registered voters

Voters casting ballots at over 72,000 polling stations across the country

93%

Communist Party candidates

Share of candidates belonging to the ruling party, up from 91.5 percent in 2021

$134B

Trade surplus with U.S.

Vietnam's 2025 trade surplus with the United States, a record high that has drawn tariff pressure from Washington

63 → 34

Province consolidation

Number of provinces and cities reduced under To Lam's sweeping administrative restructuring, effective July 2025

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People Involved

Tô Lâm

Unanimously reelected as General Secretary at 14th Party Congress, January 2026

Lê Minh Hưng

Awaiting formal appointment by incoming National Assembly in April 2026

Tran Thanh Man

Oversaw March 15 election as head of the National Election Council

Nguyễn Phú Trọng

Deceased (July 2024)

Organizations Involved

Communist Party of Vietnam

Ruling Political Party

Sole legal ruling party; controls all branches of government

Vietnam's sole ruling party, which controls candidate selection, government appointments, and policy direction through a Politburo of 19 members elected at five-yearly congresses.

National Assembly of Vietnam

National Legislature

16th session to convene in April 2026 after March 15 election

Vietnam's 500-member unicameral legislature, which formally appoints the president, prime minister, and other top leaders from candidates nominated by the Communist Party.

Timeline

Vietnam holds general election for 16th National Assembly
Election

Nearly 73.5 million registered voters cast ballots at over 72,000 polling stations to elect 500 National Assembly members and local People's Council representatives. Turnout exceeded 80 percent by mid-afternoon.
Today • 7:00 AM
To Lam meets Trump in Washington
Diplomatic

During a visit to Washington, To Lam and President Trump signed $37.2 billion in cooperation agreements. Trump indicated Vietnam would be removed from the U.S. strategic export control list.
February 20th, 2026
To Lam unanimously reelected General Secretary
Political

All 180 Central Committee members voted to reelect To Lam. The congress also selected a 19-member Politburo and set a target of 10 percent annual economic growth.
January 23rd, 2026
14th Party Congress opens in Hanoi
Political

Some 1,586 delegates convened at the Vietnam National Convention Center for the five-yearly congress that would set the party's leadership and policy direction through 2031.
January 19th, 2026
Province consolidation completed
Administrative

Vietnam merged 63 provinces and cities into 34 administrative units and eliminated district-level government, a sweeping reorganization affecting every level of local governance.
July 1st, 2025
Ministry consolidation takes effect
Administrative

Vietnam reduced its central government ministries from 18 to 14, the most significant restructuring since the 1986 Doi Moi reforms.
March 1st, 2025
To Lam confirmed as General Secretary
Political

The Central Committee formally elected To Lam as general secretary, making him the first leader since Ho Chi Minh to hold both the party and presidential positions simultaneously.
August 3rd, 2024
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong dies at 80
Political

The death of Vietnam's longest-serving party chief created a power vacuum that To Lam quickly filled, becoming acting general secretary within weeks.
July 19th, 2024
To Lam elected State President
Political

The National Assembly elected To Lam, then Minister of Public Security, as state president after a string of resignations created vacancies in Vietnam's top leadership.
May 22nd, 2024
"Blazing furnace" anti-corruption campaign launched
Policy

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong initiated the sweeping anti-corruption drive that would discipline over 168,000 party members and remove several Politburo-level officials over the next eight years.
January 1st, 2016

Scenarios

To Lam formally assumes dual party-state leadership, accelerates growth agenda

Discussed by: The Diplomat, Fulcrum (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute), Modern Diplomacy

When the new National Assembly convenes in April, it confirms To Lam as both general secretary and state president, formalizing the dual role. With Le Minh Hung installed as a loyalist prime minister, To Lam pursues his 10 percent growth target aggressively, deepening semiconductor partnerships with the United States and Japan while maintaining ties with Beijing. The consolidation enables faster decision-making on investment approvals and trade negotiations, but concentrates risk around a single leader in a system designed around collective rule.

U.S.-Vietnam trade deal reached, tariff pressure eases

Discussed by: Lowy Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Trade Representative

Vietnam and the United States conclude their trade negotiations with a deal that addresses Washington's concerns about transshipment of Chinese goods and the $134 billion trade surplus. Vietnam agrees to increased purchases of U.S. agricultural and energy products and tighter enforcement of rules of origin. The deal preserves Vietnam's position as a "China plus one" manufacturing alternative and opens the door for semiconductor technology transfers. Failure to reach a deal, conversely, could expose Vietnamese exporters to tariffs of 40 percent or higher on goods deemed transshipped from China.

Administrative restructuring triggers economic disruption

Discussed by: Fulcrum (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute), Allen & Gledhill, Radio Free Asia

The rapid consolidation of 63 provinces into 34 and the elimination of district-level governance creates confusion over business permits, land titles, and regulatory authority. Foreign investors pause expansion plans while new administrative boundaries are clarified. Analysts at ISEAS have noted that the speed of restructuring—described as occurring at "breakneck speed"—risks outrunning the bureaucratic capacity to implement it, potentially slowing the very growth the reforms were designed to accelerate.

Power consolidation meets internal resistance

Discussed by: Council on Foreign Relations, The Diplomat, NPR

Vietnam's military, which has traditionally supplied the state president and remained largely untouched by the anti-corruption campaign, pushes back against the dual-role arrangement. The Politburo's collective leadership norms reassert themselves, and To Lam faces quiet institutional resistance that constrains his authority without a visible power struggle. The Council on Foreign Relations has noted that the military "is unlikely to cede the presidency without some assurances or checks on the leader's power."

Historical Context

Xi Jinping's consolidation of power in China (2012–2018)

November 2012 – March 2018

What Happened

Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012 and President in 2013, then used a sweeping anti-corruption campaign to remove rivals and consolidate control. In 2018, China's National People's Congress abolished presidential term limits, enabling Xi to rule indefinitely. The consolidation was accompanied by a massive military reorganization and party discipline campaign that punished over 1.5 million officials.

Outcome

Short Term

Xi achieved a level of personal authority not seen in China since Mao Zedong, with all major institutional power concentrated in his hands by 2018.

Long Term

The removal of collective leadership safeguards created a system with no clear succession mechanism and fewer internal checks on policy, contributing to decisions like the zero-Covid lockdowns that lacked institutional pushback.

Why It's Relevant Today

To Lam's simultaneous tenure as party general secretary and state president, combined with an anti-corruption campaign used to remove rivals, closely mirrors Xi's playbook. The question is whether Vietnam's smaller, more trade-dependent economy and its historically stronger collective leadership norms will produce a different outcome.

Soviet Union's Congress of People's Deputies election (1989)

March 1989

What Happened

Mikhail Gorbachev replaced the Soviet Union's rubber-stamp legislature with a new Congress of People's Deputies and allowed partially competitive elections. For the first time, voters had a choice among candidates, and 20 percent of the Communist Party's top leadership was defeated at the ballot box. Boris Yeltsin won a Moscow seat with 89 percent of the vote after being expelled from the Politburo.

Outcome

Short Term

The elections legitimized opposition voices within the Soviet system and created a televised forum where deputies openly criticized government policy for the first time.

Long Term

The partial opening proved impossible to contain. Within two years, the Congress voted to end the Communist Party's constitutional monopoly on power, contributing to the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991.

Why It's Relevant Today

Vietnam's election represents the opposite approach: rather than opening the legislature to genuine competition, the party has tightened candidate control, reducing non-party candidates from 8.5 percent to 7.5 percent. Vietnam's leadership appears to have studied the Soviet experience and concluded that even limited electoral competition poses unacceptable risks to party control.

Vietnam's Doi Moi economic reforms (1986)

December 1986

What Happened

Facing economic crisis, the Communist Party's 6th National Congress adopted Doi Moi ("renovation") policies that opened Vietnam to foreign investment, permitted private enterprise, and dismantled collective agriculture. The reforms were launched under General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh, who pushed through changes against resistance from party hardliners.

Outcome

Short Term

Inflation dropped from over 700 percent to manageable levels within a few years, and foreign investment began flowing into the country.

Long Term

Vietnam's economy grew an average of 7 percent annually over the following three decades, lifting tens of millions out of poverty and transforming the country into a major manufacturing exporter. The party maintained political control while delivering economic results.

Why It's Relevant Today

To Lam's current administrative restructuring—reducing ministries from 18 to 14 and provinces from 63 to 34—is being described as the most significant government reorganization since Doi Moi. The comparison frames the stakes: Doi Moi succeeded because it matched economic liberalization with institutional capacity. The current restructuring bets that centralization and streamlining, rather than liberalization, will deliver the next phase of growth.