Vietnam Communist Party elects country's leaders

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party began a crucial week-long meeting in the capital Hanoi to set the nation's path for the next five years and appoint the country's top leaders. Thanks to its successful efforts at containing the spread of the coronavirus, 1,587 delegates from across the country have assembled for the event, which is held every five years. Vietnam is a single-party Communist state in which stability and continuity are favored over change.

Healthy economic growth achieved under the leadership selected at the last national Party Congress in 2016 makes any challenges to the status quo even more unlikely. The main duty for the delegates to the 13th Congress is to pick the country's next leaders. Congress delegates will elect the 200-member Central Committee, which will choose between 15 and 19 of its members to serve on the Politburo, the highest party body. The Politburo will make nominations for the "four pillars" _  General Secretary; the President, a largely ceremonial post; the Prime Minister; and the National Assembly chairman. Those nominations are then put to a vote of the Congress delegates.