After the 12th plenum, the Personnel Appointments subcommittee began discussions with important organizations and individuals within the Party, most notably with the Central Commission for Inspection (which investigates complaints against Party members), party elders Đỗ Mười, Lê Đức Anh, Võ Văn Kiệt, Võ Nguyên Giáp and Nguyễn Đức Tâm, and with the 9th Politburo. The nomination list created in these discussions had to be voted on by the 9th Central Committee. At its 13th plenum, the 9th Central Committee, several changes to the nomination list recommended by Personnel Appointments subcommittee were made; the Central Committee decided to retire 8 out of 14 Politburo members, the largest number of "en masse" retirements in the history of the Politburo. However, in official pronouncements, this decision was referred to as a "survey", and not an election. Even so, the majority believed the eight people mentioned would retire rather than stay for another term. The retirements of Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Văn An, who was considered a strong contender for the general secretaryship at the 11th Congress, and two leading proteges of Mạnh; the unofficial deputy general secretary Phan Diễn, and the Head of the Commission for Organization and Personnel Trần Đình Hoan, were unexpected.