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Laos Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Laos
Official Name: Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Capital: Vientiane
Area: 236,800 square kilometres ( 91,429 square miles )
Major cities (Population): Vientiane 415,000 (1990 estimate)
Population: 4,882,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 3 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Communist state
Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
Constitution: Promulgated 14 August 1991
Voting Rights: Universal at age 18
Government
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a Communist state. A new constitution promulgated in 1991 provides for an executive branch that consists of a president as head of state and a chairman of the Council of Ministers as head of government. The 85-seat National Assembly is the elected legislature, for which the last national elections were held in 1992. The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party is the only legal party. The voting age is 18.
Recent History
The French granted internal rule over a united Laos in 1949 to Sisavang Vong, king of the principality of Louangphrabang, but Laos remained part of the French union. Independence was recognized by the Geneva Conference in 1954.
In the following years the Pathet Lao, a group of pro-Communist nationalists formed by “Red Prince” Souphanouvong in 1950 and aided by North Vietnam, gained strength as a rival to the Royal Lao Government (RLG) formed in 1951 by Souvanna Phouma, the Red Prince’s elder half-brother. Coalition governments in 1957 and 1962 lasted only a very short time, and fighting intensified between the two sides. Meanwhile Laos became increasingly involved in the conflict between the United States and Communist forces (Vietminh) in Vietnam. In 1964 the US began bombing Laos with the aim of stopping the flow of troops and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran from North Vietnam through Laos to South Vietnam. The bombing continued for several years and caused immense damage. In 1973 a ceasefire was finally arranged in Laos and the following year a coalition government was formed. In 1975, after the Communist victories in Vietnam and Cambodia, the Pathet Lao took control of government. In December the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was declared, with Souphanouvong as president and Kaysone Phomvihan as chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Following the withdrawal of American aid, Laos formed special relationships with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Vietnam, which stationed many thousands of troops and advisers in the country. But by 1986 the state of the economy was so poor that the government introduced major reforms, including making the majority of public enterprises independent of state control. One of the government’s aims was to lessen dependence on Vietnam, and in more recent years it has also pursued better relations with neighbouring Thailand as well as other countries such as the United States, which has agreed to extend development aid in return for a crackdown on the drug trade.
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