General Secretary of the Communist Party

The title of General Secretary or First Secretary is commonly used for the leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party of a socialist state—often labeled as communist states by external observers—the general secretary is typically the country's de facto leader. It is not uncommon for this leader to also assume state-level positions, such as president or premiership, thereby also becoming the de jure leader of the state. The position of general secretary is typically elected by the communist party's central committee (with the Workers' Party of Korea as an exception), and the holder of this title also frequently serves on the communist party's politburo and secretariat.

General secretaries of ruling communist parties

Leaders of current ruling communist parties

Party		Title	Officeholder		Took office	Length of tenure	Ref.
	Chinese Communist Party	General Secretary of the Central Committee	Xi Jinping		15 November 2012	11 years, 161 days	^[1]
	Communist Party of Cuba	First Secretary of the Central Committee	Miguel Díaz-Canel		19 April 2021	3 years, 5 days	^[2]
	Communist Party of Vietnam	General Secretary of the Central Committee	Nguyễn Phú Trọng		8 January 2011	13 years, 107 days	^[3]
	Lao People's Revolutionary Party	General Secretary of the Central Committee	Thongloun Sisoulith		15 January 2021	3 years, 100 days	^[4]
	Workers' Party of Korea	General Secretary	Kim Jong-un		11 April 2012	12 years, 13 days	^[5]

See also

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Secretary.

• Central Committee
• Politburo

References

1. Li, Cheng. (PDF). Brookings Institution. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
2. . BBC News. 19 April 2021. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
3. Cain, Geoffrey (19 January 2011). . Time. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
4. . Reuters. 15 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
5. Kim, Jack (11 April 2012). . Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.