Vietnam’s highest legislative body National Assembly will open its opening session on October 20, 2025. It is considered one of the most special working sessions in the history of the parliament in recent years.
According to Thanh Nien newspaper, this is the last session of the 15th National Assembly, it is expected that there will focus on passing nearly 50 draft laws and many other important resolutions but not questioning Government members.
However, the story is not simply a „closing“ session for the term, but it also clearly reflects the enormous pressure weighing on the entire state apparatus, from the Government to the National Assembly, in the context of preparations for the upcoming 14th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).
However, during the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the afternoon of October 14, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man was said to have „lost his temper“ when discussing the working speed of the National Assembly. His statement, “at least three or five days. I am not a super hero so it is not fair that you send it this afternoon, study it tomorrow and then press the button,” quickly spread on social media before being removed from Thanh Nien newspaper.
According to political observers, behind this statement by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man is a naked truth: the National Assembly is having to work with a huge number of draft laws in an extremely limited period of time.
Deputy Chairwoman of the People’s Aspirations Committee Le Thi Nga also could not hide her worry when she said that submitting nearly 50 draft laws in a shortened order is “very worrying” because it will be impossible to fully assess the policy impact.
Some legislative experts commented that the productivity of the Vietnamese National Assembly over the past year has been a rare “extraordinary,” even exceeding the capacity of a parliament with a low ratio of full-time representatives like Vietnam.
But “extraordinary” does not mean “effective.” When speed becomes the goal, legislative quality is at risk of being sidelined.
In the current political context, when CPV’s General Secretary To Lam is said to be in a hurry before entering the series of 14th and possibly 15th Plenum of the party’s Central Committee, when internal developments have shown that if there is any further delay, he is at risk of losing control of the situation.
In the face of dense speculation about the rise of Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang, combined with news from the news media affirming that three of the four pillars of the 13th term, if they are forced to retire early, will vote for General Phan Van Giang to become the party leader.
Therefore, the request to “close the book” ahead of schedule not only has administrative significance but also demonstrates the control of the leader. When To Lam’s “pressure” on the National Assembly and the Government has shown the thoroughness for the orderly transfer of power after the 14th Party National Congress.
However, it is precisely this “urgency” also creates unavoidable paradoxes, when the time for examination, debate, and consultation with experts is almost shortened to a minimum.
Meanwhile, draft laws – many of which directly affect the people, such as the Land Law, Housing Law, Public Finance Law, etc. require extremely thorough consideration beyond the normal level.
According to observers, the fact that National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man frankly admitted that „there are things that cannot be handled“ shows that the legislative apparatus is under excessive pressure from the incumbent General Secretary.
From an international perspective, scholars believe that the reaction of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man reflects the internal tension within the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, at a time when the Party National Congress is approaching very soon.
And does that apparatus have enough unity to „step steadily and firmly“ into the new era of the nation as the General Secretary To Lam declared?
Tra My – Thoibao.de
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Vietnam’s National Assembly under great pressure from General Secretary To Lam’
“… this is also a test of General Secretary To Lam’s power in controlling the disciplinary situation within the party.”
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