Suitable for the nature and tasks of the army

(TN&MT) - Discussing the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army, delegates basically agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Law to fully institutionalize the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies on building a strong contingent of officers of the Vietnam People's Army to meet mission requirements. In particular, increasing the age of active service for officers is reasonable, consistent with the nature and tasks of the army as a special labor industry.

Continuing the 8th Session, on the morning of November 5, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man , the National Assembly held a plenary session in the Hall to discuss the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong chaired the meeting.

The National Assembly held a plenary session in the Hall to discuss the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army.

Discussing at the meeting hall, delegate Be Minh Duc, National Assembly Delegation of Cao Bang province affirmed that the promulgation of the law aims to fully institutionalize the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies on building a strong Vietnam People's Army officer team, meeting the requirements of basically building a lean, strong Vietnam People's Army by 2025, creating a solid foundation to strive to build a revolutionary, disciplined, elite, and modern Vietnam People's Army by 2030. The amendment and supplementation of a number of policies in the law also aims to attract and utilize high-quality human resources to serve the Vietnam People's Army.

One of the notable amendments in this draft law is Article 13 regulating the age of active service of officers. Accordingly, the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army stipulates the maximum age limit for officers in active service according to military rank as follows: Lieutenant: 50; Major: 52; Lieutenant Colonel: 54; Senior Colonel: 56; Colonel: 58; General: 60.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong chaired the meeting.

Along with that, the draft law also stipulates that when the Army has a need, officers with sufficient political and moral qualities, good professional skills, good health and volunteering can have their service age extended as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article for no more than 5 years; officers who are professors, associate professors, doctors, specialist doctors 2, specialist pharmacists 2, chief engineers, leading scientists, officers with specialized or specific training or in special cases can have their service age extended according to regulations of the Minister of National Defense.

Delegate To Van Tam, National Assembly Delegation of Kon Tum province, said that such an increase is reasonable, consistent with the nature and tasks of the army as a special labor sector and also consistent with the army building in the current period. Currently, officers from Lieutenant Colonel and below according to the Law on Social Insurance who have reached retirement age have not paid insurance for 35 years, so they do not have enough 75% pension.

“The increase in age is to approach the provisions of the Labor Code and the Social Insurance Law so that officers can enjoy full benefits when they retire. On the other hand, the increase in retirement age is also to attract talented people to serve in the army. Therefore, I agree with this regulation,” delegate To Van Tam emphasized.

Delegate Pham Trong Nghia - National Assembly Delegation of Lang Son province.

Delegate Pham Trong Nghia, National Assembly Delegation of Lang Son province also said that increasing the age for officers serving in the army from 1 to 5 years will increase the time and level of contribution to the social insurance fund, increasing the accumulation of the social insurance fund, contributing to the implementation of the contribution - benefit principle in long-term social insurance regimes.

Regarding the increase in the age limit for generals, the draft law currently stipulates the highest age of 60 years old. Delegate Nguyen Dai Thang, National Assembly Delegation of Hung Yen province, requested the drafting agency to study and consider adjusting the age of active service of general officers to 62 years old to ensure consistency among armed forces, ensure the use of talents and the correlation between the two forces of the People's Army and the People's Public Security. Because the roadmap to increase the age of active service for generals of the police to 62 years old for men in 2028 is also consistent with the roadmap to increase the retirement age of the current Labor Code, ensuring the consistency and unity of the legal system.

In addition, delegate Nguyen Thi Yen Nhi, National Assembly Delegation of Ben Tre province, said that although they are all officers of the Vietnam People's Army, the nature, working environment, working area, and tasks in the People's Army in mountainous areas, border areas, islands... will be more complicated, difficult, and dangerous than other areas. Therefore, she suggested that the Drafting Committee consider regulating the highest age limit for service in mountainous areas, border areas, islands... lower than other areas, in order to ensure that officers have enough physical and mental health to perform well the assigned tasks.

Expressing her agreement with the draft Law, delegate Thai Thi An Chung, National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province, said that the age increase has been carefully calculated by the Ministry of National Defense based on the age increase options. The proposed options in the draft Law are suitable for the nature, tasks, and organizational structure of the army, as well as suitable for reality and consistent with the provisions of the law on labor and social insurance.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung - National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province.

However, the delegate said that the condition for extending the service age by 5 years as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 13, which is when the army needs officers with sufficient political and moral qualities, good professional skills, and good health, is still general and unclear. "To be consistent with the decentralization policy and in line with reality, I propose that the draft law should be decentralized to the Government or the Minister of National Defense to regulate the extension of the age of active officers in special cases of necessity," the delegate suggested.

Delegates also agreed that the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army should be considered, commented on and approved by the National Assembly at the 8th session according to the shortened order and procedures.

Overview of the meeting

Receiving and explaining the delegates' opinions on the increase of the rank of captain from 46 to 50 years old, General Phan Van Giang - Minister of National Defense, said that officers graduating from school after about 10-12 years will be promoted to captain. "If they are only promoted to captain at the age of 50, their capacity must be reviewed", emphasizing this, General Phan Van Giang said, the age of captain retirement is not much, almost non-existent... General Giang said that military officers must train their troops so that "when there is a situation, they must be able to handle it", and must meet the requirements of "increasingly fast, increasingly high" expertise.

Regarding the proposal to increase the retirement age of military generals to 62 years old, General Phan Van Giang shared: Due to the unique characteristics of organization and command work in the military, I hope the National Assembly will allow the retirement age for generals to remain the same as in the draft proposal, which is 60 years old.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/tang-tuoi-phuc-vu-tai-ngu-cua-si-quan-phu-hop-voi-tinh-chat-nhiem-vu-cua-quan-doi-382743.html