From 2026, in some special cases such as new establishment, arrangement, reorganization of villages or when the title of Village Head is missing, the commune-level People's Committee has the right to appoint a temporary Village Head to manage local activities.
According to Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree 185/2026/ND-CP of the Government on the organization and operation of villages and residential groups, the interim village head is the person designated by the commune-level People's Committee to temporarily manage the village's operations until the village head is elected according to regulations.
The appointment of the interim Village Head is carried out in the following cases:
Establish new villages;
Rearranging and reorganizing villages;
Missing the title of Village Head due to not being able to elect a replacement or for other reasons as prescribed.
This is a solution to ensure that management and administration activities in the village are not interrupted while waiting for elections to be held.
Notably, the time to hold the title of Provisional Village Head does not exceed 6 months from the date of the appointment decision. During this period, the locality must organize the election of Village Heads according to the provisions of the Law on Implementation of Democracy at the Grassroots level and guiding documents for implementation.
In addition to regulations on temporary Village Heads, Decree 185/2026/ND-CP also stipulates that each village has one Village Head who is a non-specialized worker in the village. Based on task requirements, local characteristics and budget balancing capacity, the Provincial People's Council may decide to arrange additional positions to participate in activities in the village to support Village Heads or implement self-management activities of the residential community.
According to regulations, the term of office of the Village Head is 5 years. However, to ensure consistency with the reorganisation of the village or in cases of force majeure such as natural disasters and epidemics that make it impossible to organize elections on time, the commune-level People's Committee is allowed to decide to shorten or extend the term but not more than 6 months. If the adjustment time exceeds 6 months, the commune-level People's Committee must report to the provincial-level People's Committee for consideration and decision.
