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.

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 make use of high-quality human resources to serve the Vietnam People's Army.

One of the notable amendments in this draft law is Article 13, which stipulates the age of officers serving in the army. 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 serving in the army according to military rank as follows: Lieutenant: 50; Major: 52; Lieutenant Colonel: 54; Senior Lieutenant Colonel: 56; Colonel: 58; General: 60.

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 current military construction. Currently, officers from Lieutenant Colonel and below according to the Law on Social Insurance who reach retirement age have not paid insurance for 35 years, so they do not receive 75% of their pension.

“The increase in age is aimed at approaching 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, raising the retirement age is also aimed at attracting 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 also said that increasing the age of officers serving in the army from 1 to 5 years will increase the time and level of contribution to the social insurance fund, increase the accumulation of the social insurance fund, and contribute to implementing the principle of contribution - benefit 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, proposed that the drafting agency study and consider adjusting the age of active service for general officers to 62 years old to ensure consistency among the 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, etc. 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, etc. lower than other areas, in order to ensure that officers have sufficient physical and mental health to perform their assigned tasks well.

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 options proposed 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.

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 service age of 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 procedures.

Receiving and explaining the opinions of delegates 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 for about 10-12 years will be promoted to captain. "By the age of 50, if they are only promoted to captain, their ability must be reviewed", emphasizing this, General Phan Van Giang said, the age of retirement of captain is not much, almost none... 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 "faster and faster, higher and higher" expertise.

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