On the afternoon of October 28, the National Assembly held a group discussion on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army. The proposal to raise the maximum age limit for active officers received many opinions from delegates.
According to the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army, for the rank of Lieutenant, the maximum age limit for active officers (retirement age) increases from 46 years old to 50 years old; Major from 48 years old to 52 years old; Lieutenant colonel from 51 years old to 54 years old; Senior Lieutenant colonel from 54 years old to 56 years old; Colonel from 57 years old (for men) and 55 years old (for women) to 58 years old (regardless of gender). The rank of General remains at 60 years old for men, and increases from 55 years old to 60 years old for women.
Commenting on the draft law, delegate Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran (Ho Chi Minh City Delegation) expressed support for raising the age limit for military officers, including women.
According to delegate Nguyen Tran Phuong Tran, if following the current regulations, there will be shortcomings: When female officers retire, their pension will not be at most 75% because it depends on their rank. Officers at all levels, when raising their service age, must ensure that men have paid social insurance for 35 years, and women have paid social insurance for 30 years, to receive a pension of 75%.
"Raising the age of active service for officers not only creates conditions for good service in the army, but also complies with social insurance benefits and the Labor Code," said the delegate.
Delegate Tran Hoang Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City Delegation) said that in the military, human resources are very important, especially combat experience. Therefore, the delegate agreed with the proposals in the draft. However, the delegate proposed extending the service age of general officers from 60 to 62 to suit the situation.
Previously, the inspection report of the National Assembly's Defense and Security Committee said that the committee basically agreed to amend Clause 1, Article 13 of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army in the direction of increasing the age limit for active service according to the highest military rank of officers of the Vietnam People's Army at different levels, ensuring compliance with the Party's policy on adjusting the retirement age and consistent with the provisions of the 2019 Labor Code.
However, according to the committee, there are opinions suggesting that the drafting agency consider adjusting the retirement age of female officers with the rank of Colonel to comply with the provisions of the Labor Code and the Law on Social Insurance, ensuring gender equality and taking advantage of qualified and experienced female human resources in the military.
