10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam
The 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam was held in Ba Đình Hall, Hanoi from 18 to 25 April 2006. The congress occurs every five years. 1,176 delegates represented the party's 3 million members. At the 13th plenum of the Central Committee, held before the congress, it was decided that eight members of the Communist Party's 9th Politburo had to retire. While certain segments within and outside the Politburo were skeptical, the decision was implemented. Because of party rules, the congress was not empowered to elect the general secretary, and it held a survey on whom the delegates wanted to be appointed General Secretary. The first plenum of the Central Committee, held in the immediate aftermath of the congress, re-elected Nông Đức Mạnh as general secretary.
A sign advertising for the 10th Party Congress
Hu Jintao, the CPC General Secretary, personally congratulated Nguyen Van Son on the holding of the 10th National Congress
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the collapse of the South Vietnamese government following the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Although it nominally exists alongside the Vietnamese Fatherland Front, it maintains a unitary government and has centralized control over the state, military, and media. The supremacy of the CPV is guaranteed by Article 4 of the national constitution. The Vietnamese public generally refer to the CPV as simply "the Party" or "our Party".
The flag of the CPV and the national flag of Vietnam flying side by side
General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng with United States Secretary of State John Kerry in Hanoi, 2013
The state and party are guided by Hồ Chí Minh Thought.
Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in 2014