The 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam on Monday elected members of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) with 160 official ones, including incumbent General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, and 21 alternate ones, a party official told reporters.

"The 9th tenure CPVCC introduced 174 candidates, including six members of the Political Bureau, for membership of the 10th tenure CPVCC. A total of 160 people were elected as official members," announced Dao Duy Quat, Vice Director of the Party Committee's Commission on Ideological and Cultural Affairs.

He said the six political bureau members, including General Secretary Manh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Minh Triet, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hanoi Nguyen Phu Trong, Director of the CPVCC's Commission on Economy Truong Tan Sang, and Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh, were re-elected for the CPVCC "with high voting rates, 90 percent upward."

"Among the newly-elected CPVCC members, a member has the lowest voting rate of 63.4 percent," he added.

For the first time, the Communist Party of Vietnam allowed its members to self-nominate for membership of the CPVCC. Two members self-nominated, namely a deputy minister of foreign affairs and a scientist, but they were not elected, Quat said.

Eight other members of the Political Bureau, who were not nominated for membership of the 10th tenure CPVCC, include State President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Chairman of the National Assembly (Vietnam's highest legislative body) Nguyen Van An, Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPVCC Phan Dien, Defense Minister Pham Van Tra, Director of the CPVCC's Organization Commission Tran Dinh Hoan, Director of the CPVCC's Commission on Ideological and Cultural Affairs Nguyen Khoa Diem, and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Truong Quang Duoc.

"Some members of the Political Bureau are old now, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, for instance," Quat said, noting that Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Mai Ai Truc, who was introduced by the 9th tenure CPVCC, voluntarily asked for being withdrawn from the nomination list due to health reasons.

The newly-elected CPVCC held its first meeting Monday afternoon, during which it is to elect the Political Bureau with expected 15- 17 members.

"During the meeting, the CPVCC will elect the CPVCC's general secretary from members of the Political Bureau. The election results will be officially publicized on Tuesday morning," Quat said.

The eight-day congress, running from April 18-25, is to mainly elect the party's leadership board in the new tenure, define orientations for the country's socioeconomic development in the 2006-2010 period, and adopt the party's amended statute.

Source: Xinhua