Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam

The Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Quốc hội Việt Nam),^[note_5] formerly designated as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội Việt Nam) from 1946 to 1981, is the legislative speaker of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, presiding over the National Assembly. The National Assembly is, in the words of the constitution, "the highest representative organ of the people; the highest organ of state power".

The chairman is elected by the deputies (members) of the National Assembly in the first season of the assembly's tenure. The Standing Committee, over which the chairman presides, is a permanent body in charge of the National Assembly's activities when it is not in session. The chairman and the other members of the Standing Committee have to resign from their posts when the National Assembly dissolves itself, which it normally does every five years. The chairman presides over the sessions of the National Assembly and authenticates laws and resolutions passed by the National Assembly by signing them. The chairman leads the activities of the Standing Committee and organises its external relations with other state bodies and is responsible for maintaining cordial relations between the members of the Standing Committee. The deputies of the National Assembly have the right to question the chairman.

The powers and prestige of the office of chairman has varied throughout the years. For instance, the two first officeholders Nguyễn Văn Tố and Bùi Bằng Đoàn were not members of the Communist Party, while Trường Chinh, the fourth chairman, was ranked second in the Politburo hierarchy. Still, of the ten people who have chaired the National Assembly, five of them have been members of the Politburo. The current chairman is Vương Đình Huệ, and he is ranked third in the Politburo hierarchy.^{[note 1]}