The 13th National Party Congress announced the names of newly elected Party Central Committee members, including 180 official and 20 alternate members.

Trong, 77, and Phuc, 66, were among "special cases" introduced by the 12th Party Central Committee for re-election to the 13th Party Central Committee though they exceed the age limit as per existing regulations.

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the opening session of the 13th Party Congress in Hanoi, January 26, 2020.

Trong became General Secretary of the Party Central Committee in 2011, and was reelected to the position in 2016.

Members of the 12th Politburo, the main decision-making body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, re-elected to the new Party Central Committee term included Pham Minh Chinh, Secretary of the 12th Party Central Committee and head of the Central Organizing Commission; Vuong Dinh Hue, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee; Vo Van Thuong, Secretary of the 12th Party Central Committee and head of the Central Propaganda Commission; Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; To Lam, Minister of Public Security; and Truong Thi Mai, Secretary of the 12th Party Central Committee and head of the Central Commission for Mass Mobilization.

Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang, member of the 12th Party Central Committee, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defense, was also elected to the new term.

Giang, 61, who is too old to be re-elected as per existing regulations, was nominated as among "special cases."

As per existing regulations, members of the Party Central Committee must not be older than 60 to be re-elected. Members of the Politburo and the Secretariat must not be older than 65 to be re-elected.

Also in the "special case" category and elected to the 13th Party Central Committee are two deputy ministers of public security Luong Tam Quang and Nguyen Duy Ngoc.

Quang, 56, and Ngoc, 57, who both exceed the age limit of no more than 55 for those elected for the first time, were introduced as "special cases" by the 12th Party Central Committee.

Phung Xuan Nha, member of the 12th Party Central Committee and Minister of Education and Training, was not elected to the new Central Party Committee term.

On Sunday, the 13th Party Central Committee will convene its first plenum to elect the Politburo, the Party General Secretary, the Secretariat, the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission, and its Chairperson.

The 13th Party Congress officially opened Tuesday. The nation’s premier political event will select Party, State, Government and National Assembly leaders for the next five years, besides finalizing socio-economic development policies for the 2021-25 period and orientations until 2030 with a vision towards 2045.

The congress has attracted the highest participation so far, with 1,587 delegates representing 5.1 million Party members from across the country.

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Source: VnExpress