Chapter VI: THE PRESIDENT

 Article 86The President is the Head of State and shall represent the Socialist Republic of Vietnam internally and externally.

Article 87The President shall be elected by the National Assembly from among its deputies. The President is responsible, and shall report on his or her work, to the National Assembly. His or her term of office follows the term of the National Assembly. At the expiration of the term of the National Assembly, the President shall remain in office until a new President is elected by the succeeding National Assembly.

Article 88The President has the following tasks and powers:

1. To promulgate the Constitution, laws and ordinances; to request the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to reconsider its ordinances, within ten days of their passage; if those ordinances are still voted for by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and disapproved by the President, the President shall refer the matter to the National Assembly for decision at its next session;

2. To propose to the National Assembly to elect, relieve from duty or remove from office the Vice President or Prime Minister; and appoint, relieve from duty or dismiss Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers or other members of the Government;

3. To propose the National Assembly to elect, relieve from duty or remove from office the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court or Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy; and appoint, relieve from duty or dismiss Judges of the Supreme People's Court; to appoint, relieve from duty or dismiss Deputy Chief Justices of the Supreme People's Court, Judges of other Courts or Deputy Procurators General or Procurators of the Supreme People's Procuracy; to decide on a special amnesty; or, based on resolutions of the National Assembly, to proclaim a general amnesty;

4. To decide on the award of orders, medals, state prizes or state honourary titles; to decide to permit naturalization in Vietnam, renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship, restoration of Vietnamese citizenship or deprivation of Vietnamese citizenship;

5. To assume command of the people's armed forces and hold the office of Chairperson of the National Defense and Security Council; to decide on the award, promotion, demotion or deprivation of the ranks of general, naval rear admiral, naval vice admiral and naval admiral; to appoint, relieve from duty or dismiss the Chief of the General Staff or the Director of the Political General Department of the Vietnamese People's Army; based on resolutions of the National Assembly or the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, to promulgate or annul decisions to declare a state of war; based on resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, to issue an order on general mobilisation or partial mobilisation, to declare or cancel a state of emergency; or, in case the Standing Committee of the National Assembly cannot meet, to declare or cancel a state of emergency nationwide or in a particular locality;

6. To receive foreign ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary; based on resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, to appoint, relieve from duty; decide to send or recall ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; to confer the ambassadorial title and rank; to decide on the negotiation and conclusion of treaties in the name of the State; to submit to the National Assembly for ratification of, or decision on the accession to, or withdrawal from, the treaties specified in Clause 14, Article 70; to decide on the ratification of, accession to, or withdrawal from, other treaties in the name of the State.

7. To hold Director of Steering Committee of the Central Judicial Reform.

Article 891. The National Defense and Security Council is composed of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and members. The list of members of the National Defense and Security Council shall be submitted by the President to the National Assembly for approval. The National Defense and Security Council shall work on a collegial basis and make its decisions by a vote of the majority.

2. The National Defense and Security Council shall propose the National Assembly or, when the National Assembly cannot meet, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to decide on a state of war; mobilise all forces and capacity of the country to defend the Fatherland; perform special tasks and exercise special powers assigned to and vested in it by the National Assembly in case of war; and decide on the participation of the people's armed forces in peacekeeping operations in the region and around the world.

Article 90The President may attend meetings of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and meetings of the Government. The President may request the Government to meet to discuss issues that he or she considers necessary to fulfill his or her tasks or exercise his or her powers.

Article 91The President shall issue orders and decisions for the performance of his or her tasks or the exercise of his or her powers.

Article 92The Vice President shall be elected by the National Assembly from among its deputies. The Vice President shall assist the President in his or her work and may be delegated certain tasks by the President to perform on behalf of the President.

Article 93When the President is incapacitated from work over a long period of time, the Vice President shall succeed as acting President. In case of vacancy of the Presidency, the Vice President shall serve as acting President until a new President is elected by the National Assembly.