The Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (), was designated as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Hội đồng Bộ trưởng) from 1981 to 1992, is the highest office within the Central Government. The prime minister is simultaneously the Secretary of the Government Caucus Commission, a Party organ on government affairs, and Deputy Chairman of the Council for Defence and Security, an organ of the National Assembly. Throughout its history, the office has been responsible, at least in theory but not always in practice, for handling Vietnam's internal policies. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Vietnam being the sole party allowed by the constitution, all the prime ministers of the Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic have been members of the party while holding office. The current prime minister is Lê Minh Hưng, since 7 April 2026. He is sixth-ranked in the Political Bureau (Politburo).
The Office of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic traces its lineage back to Hồ Chí Minh, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic. The office has no official connection, or lineage, to the heads of government of the former South Vietnam (with the exception of Huỳnh Tấn Phát, a communist and the last head of government of South Vietnam). Officially there have been 8 prime ministers of Vietnam, but there have been 29 prime ministers of Vietnam if the prime ministers of the Empire of Vietnam and South Vietnam are counted.
The Prime Minister is elected by the proposal of the President of Vietnam to the National Assembly and is responsible to the National Assembly, which elects all ministers to government. Activity reports by the Prime Minister must be given to the National Assembly, while the Standing Committee of the National Assembly supervises the activities of the Central Government and the Prime Minister. Finally, the deputies of the National Assembly have the right to question the Prime Minister and other members of government.
Legends
Empire of Vietnam (1945) Portrait Name Term of office Political party
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945–76) Status
Portrait Name Term of office Political party 1 Hồ Chí MinhPresident is also head of government. 17 August 1945 20 September 1955 Communist Party of Indochina Worker's Party of Vietnam — Huỳnh Thúc KhángActing president is also interim head of government. 31 May 1946 21 September 1946 Independent 2 Phạm Văn Đồng 20 September 1955 2 July 1976 Worker's Party of Vietnam
State of Vietnam and Republic of Vietnam (1949–1975) Portrait Name Term of office Political party State of Vietnam (1949–1955) 1 Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy(Bảo Đại)(1913–1997) 14 June 1949 21 January 1950 Independent 2 Nguyễn Phan Long(1889–1960) 21 January 1950 27 April 1950 Constitution Party 3 Trần Văn Hữu(1896–1984) 6 May 1950 3 June 1952 Independent 4 Nguyễn Văn Tâm(1893–1990) 23 June 1952 17 December 1953 Nationalist Party 5 Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lộc(1914–1990) 11 January 1954 16 June 1954 Independent 6 Ngô Đình Diệm(1901–1963) 16 June 1954 26 October 1955 Personalist Labor Revolutionary Party Republic of Vietnam (1955–1975) 1 Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ(1908–1976) 4 November 1963 28 February 1964 Independent 2 Nguyễn Khánh(1927–2013) 28 February 1964 27 August 1964 Military Nguyễn Xuân Oánh(1921–2003) 29 August 1964 3 September 1964 Independent (2) Nguyễn Khánh(1927–2013) 3 September 1964 4 November 1964 Military 3 Trần Văn Hương(1902–1982) 4 November 1964 27 January 1965 Independent Nguyễn Xuân Oánh(1921–2003) 27 January 1965 15 February 1965 Independent 4 Phan Huy Quát(1908–1979) 16 February 1965 5 June 1965 Nationalist Party 5 Nguyễn Cao Kỳ(1930–2011) 14 June 1965 1 September 1967 Military 6 Nguyễn Văn Lộc(1922–1992) 1 November 1967 17 May 1968 Military (3) Trần Văn Hương(1902–1982) 28 May 1968 22 August 1969 National Social Democratic Front 7 Trần Thiện Khiêm(1925–2021) 22 August 1969 5 April 1975 National Social Democratic Front 8 Nguyễn Bá Cẩn(1930–2009) 5 April 1975 25 April 1975 Vietnam Workers and Farmers Party 9 Vũ Văn Mẫu(1914–1998) 28 April 1975 30 April 1975 Force for National Reconciliation Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (1969–1976) Portrait Name Term of office Political party Took office Left office Time in office Prime Minister of Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Huỳnh Tấn Phát 6 June 1969 2 July 1976 Communist Party of Vietnam
Vietnam (1976–present) Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976–present) Status
Portrait Name Term of office Political party Took office Left office Time in office Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 1 Phạm Văn Đồng 2 July 1976 18 December 1980 Communist Party of Vietnam Chairman of the Council of Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1) Phạm Văn Đồng 18 December 1980 18 June 1987 Communist Party of Vietnam 2 Phạm Hùng 18 June 1987 10 March 1988† — Võ Văn Kiệt 10 March 1988 22 June 1988 3 Đỗ Mười 22 June 1988 9 August 1991 4 Võ Văn Kiệt 9 August 1991 22 September 1992 Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (4) Võ Văn Kiệt 22 September 1992 25 September 1997 Communist Party of Vietnam 5 Phan Văn Khải 25 September 1997 27 June 2006 6 Nguyễn Tấn Dũng 27 June 2006 6 April 2016 7 Nguyễn Xuân PhúcCabinet 7 April 2016 5 April 2021 8 Phạm Minh ChínhCabinet 5 April 2021 7 April 2026 9 Lê Minh HưngCabinet 7 April 2026 Incumbent
Timeline
See also List of presidents of Vietnam List of heads of government of Vietnam Leaders of South Vietnam Notes 1. The Politburo of the Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the CPV and the Central Government. The membership composition, and the order of rank of the individual Politburo members is decided in an election within the newly formed Central Committee in the aftermath of a Party Congress. The Central Committee can overrule the Politburo, but that does not happen often. 2. These numbers are official. The "—" denotes acting head of government. The first column shows how many heads of government there have been in Vietnamese history, while the second show how many heads of government there was in that state. 3. The Central Committee when it convenes for its first session after being elected by a National Party Congress elects the Politburo. According to David Koh, in interviews with several high-standing Vietnamese officials, the Politburo ranking is based upon the number of approval votes by the Central Committee. Lê Hồng Anh, the Minister of Public Security, was ranked 2nd in the 10th Politburo because he received the second-highest number of approval votes. Another example being Tô Huy Rứa of the 10th Politburo, he was ranked lowest because he received the lowest approval vote of the 10th Central Committee when he was standing for election for a seat in the Politburo. This system was implemented at the 1st plenum of the 10th Central Committee. The Politburo ranking functioned as an official order of precedence before the 10th Party Congress, and some believe it still does. 4. Phạm Văn Đồng became 4th-ranked member in the Politburo hierarchy when Hồ Chí Minh, the 1st ranked, died in 1969. 5. Phạm Văn Đồng was ranked 2nd in the Politburo hierarchy when Lê Duẩn, the General Secretary of the Central Committee, died on 10 July 1986. 6. Died in office. References General The prime ministers, and when they took and left office, was taken from these sources:
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