to increase in the 1990s. The CPV lost its power to appoint or dismiss provincial-level officials in the 1990s; this is proven by the fact that Võ Văn Kiệt tried to wrestle this power back to the centre during the 1990s without success. These developments led to the provincialisation of the Central Committee; for example, more and more CC members have a background in provincial party work. Because of these changes, power in Vietnam has become increasingly devolved. The number of Central Committee members with a provincial background increased from a low of 15.6 percent in 1982 to a high of 41 percent in 2000. The former President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Trương Tấn Sang (2011–2016) was directly elected from the provinces at the 8th Party Congress, held in 1996. Because of the devolution of power, the powers of the Central Committee have increased substantially; for instance, when a two-thirds majority of the Politburo voted in favour of retaining Lê Khả Phiêu as General Secretary (the leader of Vietnam), the Central Committee voted against the Politburo's motion and voted unanimously in favour of removing Lê Khả Phiêu from his post of General Secretary. The Central Committee did this because the majority of its members were of provincial background, or were working in the provinces; because of this, these members were the first to feel the pinch when the economy began to stagnate during Lê Khả Phiêu's rule. The Central Committee elects the Politburo in the aftermath of the Party Congress. Since the full Central Committee meets only once a year, the Politburo functions as the Party's leading collective decision-making body. The Secretariat is also elected by the Central Committee, and is headed by the General Secretary (). It is responsible for solving organisational problems and implementing the demands of the Central Committee. The Secretariat oversees the work of the Commissions of the Central Committee. The General Secretary is the de facto leader of Vietnam. |General Secretary of the Central Committee |rowspan="2"| Nguyễn Phú Trọng |Communist Party |rowspan="2"| 19 January 2011 |- |Secretary of the Central Military Commission |Communist Party |- |Secretary of the Central Public Security Commission |Tô Lâm |Communist party | May 2016 |- |Executive Secretary of the Secretariat |Võ Văn Thưởng |Communist Party |2021 |- |Head of the Central Commission of Organization |Trương Thị Mai |Communist Party |5 April 2021 |- |Chairman of the Central Commission