Earlier on April 21, the 9^th Party Central Committee (PCC) released a list of 206 candidates for the congress to consider and elect to the new PCC, which will have 160 official members and 25 alternate members.

According to the list, 87 members of the 9^th PCC are re-nominated, making up 42 percent and 119 candidates are newly introduced, accounting for 57.7 percent. Of the figure, women and ethnic minority candidates make up 12 percent and 11 percent respectively.

Among the newly introduced candidates, the youngest is 33 years old and the oldest is 66 years old.

At a meeting with the media on April 21, Minister of Culture and Information Pham Quang Nghi said the 10^th Party Congress voted on the introduction of Party General Secretary but the election of a new Party leader will be elected by the new PCC. The decision on how many candidates stand for election to become Party General Secretary will be made by the 10^th PCC.

When asked about whether or not the list of candidates to be elected to the new PCC should be publicised, Mr Nghi said this is depends on regulations of the current Party Statue. However, the publicity is not yet included in the Party Statute for the time being, Mr Nghi noted.