Lao People's Revolutionary Party
Encyclopedia
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (Laotian
: ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ) is a communist political party
that has governed Laos
since 1975. The policy-making organs are the politburo
and the central committee
. A party congress
, which elects members to the politburo and central committee, is held every five years. The congress used to also elect a secretariat, but this body was abolished in 1991. In 2007, 113 of the 115 members of the National Assembly of Laos
were from the LPRP.
in 1930 (see Communist Party of Vietnam
). The ICP was entirely Vietnam
ese at its inception but grew throughout French Indochina
and was able to found a small "Lao section" in 1936. In the mid-1940s, a campaign to recruit Laotian members was instigated and in 1946 or 1947, Kaysone Phomvihan, a law student at the University of Hanoi, was recruited, along with Nouhak Phoumsavan.
In February 1951, the Second Congress of the ICP resolved to disband the party and to form three separate parties representing the three states of Indochina. In reality, the ICP was a Vietnamese organization and the separate parties created were dominated by the Vietnamese parties regardless of their national affiliations. A movement known as the Pathet Lao
(Land of Laos) was founded and Prince Souphanouvong
became its figurehead leader. It was in theory a communist resistance movement meant to fight alongside the Viet Minh
against French colonialism during the first Indochina War. But it never really fought much of anyone and was organized as a reserve organization of the Viet Minh. On March 22, 1955, at its First Party Congress, that the clandestine Lao's People's Party or Phak Pasason Lao was officially proclaimed. The First Party Congress was attended by 25 delegates representing a party membership of 300 to 400. The Party Congress was supervised and organized by the Vietnamese. Central Committee of Party includes Kaysone Phomvihane
, Nouhak Phoumsavan, Bun Phommahaxay, Sisavath Keobounphanh
, Khamseng ( May 1955, supplemented Souphanouvong
, Phoumi Vongvichit
, Phoun Sipaseut and 1956 supplemented Sisomphon Lovansay, Khamtay Siphandone,...).
The LPP and its successor the LPRP kept their existence secret until 1975 preferring to direct its activities through fronts such as the Pathet Lao.
In 1956 a legal political wing of the Pathet Lao, the Lao Patriotic Front (Neo Lao Hak Xat), was founded and participated in several coalition government
s. In the 1960s the North-Vietnam controlled Pathet Lao were given tasks in Vietnamese-occupied areas of Laos. The Pathet Lao participated in a war between their North Vietnamese backers and the U.S.-backed Laotion irregular forces. Never very successful on their own, the party still gained power indirectly by North Vietnamese control in the northern and eastern sectors of the country. The Pathet Lao were never a particularly strong military force unless supported directly by the North Vietnamese army.
In February 1972, at the Second Party Congress, the name of the Lao's People's Party was changed to the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.
In 1973, a peace agreement was signed that brought the Pathet Lao into the government and was supposed to result in the Vietnamese leaving the country. The Vietnamese army did not leave. In early 1975, the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese began attacking government outposts again. Without the support of the US, the anticommunist elements in the government had little choice other than to gradually allow the Pathet Lao to take power. In the spring of 1975 Pathet Lao forces consolidated their power throughout the country. The royal government fell in May 1975 and the LPRP took power. The LPRP on taking power showed itself to be closely connected to Vietnam. The LPRP signed a treaty of friendship which allowed Vietnamese army units to base themselves in Laos and also brought political advisors from Vietnam into the country. The LPRP economically isolated Laos by cutting off trade with all neighboring countries except for Vietnam.
In 1979 the Lao Front for National Construction
was founded to extend the reach of the LPRP in society, with a particular emphasis on governmental and cultural participation.
The Third Party Congress did not meet until April 1982. Since then Party Congresses have been more regular with the Fourth Party Congress being held in November 1986, and the Fifth Party Congress in March 1991 with further congresses every four or five years since then.
The LPRP has shown itself to be remarkably resilient. Transitions of power have tended to be smooth, the new generation of leaders has proven more open to reform, and the Politburo now has some ethnic diversity. Organised opposition to the LPRP is weak.
The Central Committee of the party was composed of 21 members and 6 alternates in 1975. This expanded to 51 members and 9 alternates by 1986 and 59 members in 1991.
The Politburo
is the centre of political power in the party with its membership drawn from and chosen by the Central Committee. The Politburo consisted of seven members in 1972 growing to eleven members by 1993.
Kaysone Phomvihan was the party's general secretary
from its founding in 1955 and remained the party's key figure until his death in 1992. His title changed to Party Chairman in 1991. Nouhak Phoumsavan was the second most powerful figure in the party throughout from the party's founding until Kaysone's death when he became the party's titular leader.
The party is currently led by Choummaly Sayasone
since 2006. Former leader Khamtai Siphandon
succeeded Nouhak Phoumsavan in 1998 (although some accounts have him succeeding Kaysone in 1992). Other recent leading figures have included Sisavath Keobounphanh
and Boungnang Vorachith, who have each served as prime minister.
Party's Secretary-General and State President,Chairman of the National Assembly, Prime Minister, Vice President is most important members of the Politburo LPRP.
Members of the Politburo of the Lao PDR elected at the 8th Party Congress:
1.Lt General Choummaly Sayasone
2.Lt General Samane Vignaket
3.Mr Thongsing Thammavong
4.Colonel Boungnang Vorachit
5.General Sisavath Keobounphanh
6.Major General Asang Laoly
7.Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh
8.Dr Thongloun Sisoulith
9.Major General Douangchay Phichith
10.Mr Somsavat Lengsavad
11.Mrs Pany Yathotou
The party operates according to the principles of democratic centralism
. Due to the covert nature of the party in its first two decades it remains semi-secret in its operations though it is becoming more open as a new generation takes control.
party patterned after the Vietnamese Communist Party and strongly influenced by the Soviet Union
and the USSR's Communist Party
. In the late 1980s the party attempted to follow the example of Gorbachev's perestroika
reforms by introducing market measures and reducing controls over state run enterprises as well as abandoning attempts at agricultural collectivisation. These reforms have been expanded in the 1990s. However, the Laotian party was reluctant to follow the Soviet example of glasnost
and has avoided loosening the party's political monopoly in the country or allowing for a free press. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the party distanced itself from Vietnam slightly and began to look to the People's Republic of China
as a model for future development. The party would allow economic liberalization
and a degree of cultural freedom but would not allow anyone to question the rule of the party over the country.
Lao language
Lao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
: ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ) is a communist political party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
that has governed Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
since 1975. The policy-making organs are the politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
and the central committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
. A party congress
Party Congress
A party congress is a general conference of a political party. The congress is attended by delegates who represent the party membership. In most parties the party congress is the highest decision making body of the organisation and elects the party's leadership bodies such as the National Executive...
, which elects members to the politburo and central committee, is held every five years. The congress used to also elect a secretariat, but this body was abolished in 1991. In 2007, 113 of the 115 members of the National Assembly of Laos
National Assembly of Laos
The unicameral National Assembly of Laos is the parliament of Laos. It was established in its current form by the Lao Constitution of 1991 , replacing the Supreme People's Assembly. After the December 1997 elections, the number of seats were increased to 99, a new structure was announced and...
were from the LPRP.
History
The party has its origins in the Indochinese Communist Party founded by Ho Chi MinhHo Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
in 1930 (see Communist Party of Vietnam
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam , formally established in 1930, is the governing party of the nation of Vietnam. It is today the only legal political party in that country. Describing itself as Marxist-Leninist, the CPV is the directing component of a broader group of organizations known as the...
). The ICP was entirely Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese at its inception but grew throughout French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
and was able to found a small "Lao section" in 1936. In the mid-1940s, a campaign to recruit Laotian members was instigated and in 1946 or 1947, Kaysone Phomvihan, a law student at the University of Hanoi, was recruited, along with Nouhak Phoumsavan.
In February 1951, the Second Congress of the ICP resolved to disband the party and to form three separate parties representing the three states of Indochina. In reality, the ICP was a Vietnamese organization and the separate parties created were dominated by the Vietnamese parties regardless of their national affiliations. A movement known as the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
(Land of Laos) was founded and Prince Souphanouvong
Souphanouvong
Prince Souphanouvong was, along with his half-brother Prince Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak, one of the “Three Princes” who represented respectively the communist , neutralist, and royalist political factions in Laos...
became its figurehead leader. It was in theory a communist resistance movement meant to fight alongside the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
against French colonialism during the first Indochina War. But it never really fought much of anyone and was organized as a reserve organization of the Viet Minh. On March 22, 1955, at its First Party Congress, that the clandestine Lao's People's Party or Phak Pasason Lao was officially proclaimed. The First Party Congress was attended by 25 delegates representing a party membership of 300 to 400. The Party Congress was supervised and organized by the Vietnamese. Central Committee of Party includes Kaysone Phomvihane
Kaysone Phomvihane
Kaysone Phomvihane was the leader of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 1955, though Souphanouvong served in a figurehead role...
, Nouhak Phoumsavan, Bun Phommahaxay, Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh was Vice President of Laos from 1996 to 1998 and third Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Laos from 1998 to 2001...
, Khamseng ( May 1955, supplemented Souphanouvong
Souphanouvong
Prince Souphanouvong was, along with his half-brother Prince Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak, one of the “Three Princes” who represented respectively the communist , neutralist, and royalist political factions in Laos...
, Phoumi Vongvichit
Phoumi Vongvichit
Phoumi Vongvichit was a leading figure of the Pathet Lao and an elder statesman of the Lao People's Democratic Republic....
, Phoun Sipaseut and 1956 supplemented Sisomphon Lovansay, Khamtay Siphandone,...).
The LPP and its successor the LPRP kept their existence secret until 1975 preferring to direct its activities through fronts such as the Pathet Lao.
In 1956 a legal political wing of the Pathet Lao, the Lao Patriotic Front (Neo Lao Hak Xat), was founded and participated in several coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
s. In the 1960s the North-Vietnam controlled Pathet Lao were given tasks in Vietnamese-occupied areas of Laos. The Pathet Lao participated in a war between their North Vietnamese backers and the U.S.-backed Laotion irregular forces. Never very successful on their own, the party still gained power indirectly by North Vietnamese control in the northern and eastern sectors of the country. The Pathet Lao were never a particularly strong military force unless supported directly by the North Vietnamese army.
In February 1972, at the Second Party Congress, the name of the Lao's People's Party was changed to the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.
In 1973, a peace agreement was signed that brought the Pathet Lao into the government and was supposed to result in the Vietnamese leaving the country. The Vietnamese army did not leave. In early 1975, the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese began attacking government outposts again. Without the support of the US, the anticommunist elements in the government had little choice other than to gradually allow the Pathet Lao to take power. In the spring of 1975 Pathet Lao forces consolidated their power throughout the country. The royal government fell in May 1975 and the LPRP took power. The LPRP on taking power showed itself to be closely connected to Vietnam. The LPRP signed a treaty of friendship which allowed Vietnamese army units to base themselves in Laos and also brought political advisors from Vietnam into the country. The LPRP economically isolated Laos by cutting off trade with all neighboring countries except for Vietnam.
In 1979 the Lao Front for National Construction
Lao Front for National Construction
The Lao Front for National Construction is a Laotian popular front founded in 1979 and led by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Its task is to organize Laotian mass organizations and other socio-political organizations. In 1988 its tasks were expanded to include certain ethnic minority affairs...
was founded to extend the reach of the LPRP in society, with a particular emphasis on governmental and cultural participation.
The Third Party Congress did not meet until April 1982. Since then Party Congresses have been more regular with the Fourth Party Congress being held in November 1986, and the Fifth Party Congress in March 1991 with further congresses every four or five years since then.
The LPRP has shown itself to be remarkably resilient. Transitions of power have tended to be smooth, the new generation of leaders has proven more open to reform, and the Politburo now has some ethnic diversity. Organised opposition to the LPRP is weak.
Party structure
From a membership of a few hundred at its founding the party grew to 11,000 members by 1965 and 21,000 members by 1972. When the party seized power in 1975 it claimed a membership of 25,000; and by 1991, at the convening of the Fifth Party Congress, the LPRP claimed its membership had increased to 60,000 or just over 1% of the population.The Central Committee of the party was composed of 21 members and 6 alternates in 1975. This expanded to 51 members and 9 alternates by 1986 and 59 members in 1991.
The Politburo
Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
The Politburo of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, formerly the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, includes the top leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party...
is the centre of political power in the party with its membership drawn from and chosen by the Central Committee. The Politburo consisted of seven members in 1972 growing to eleven members by 1993.
Kaysone Phomvihan was the party's general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
from its founding in 1955 and remained the party's key figure until his death in 1992. His title changed to Party Chairman in 1991. Nouhak Phoumsavan was the second most powerful figure in the party throughout from the party's founding until Kaysone's death when he became the party's titular leader.
The party is currently led by Choummaly Sayasone
Choummaly Sayasone
Lieutenant General Choummaly Sayasone is General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic...
since 2006. Former leader Khamtai Siphandon
Khamtai Siphandon
General Khamtai Siphandon is a Laotian politician who was President of Laos from February 24, 1998, until June 8, 2006, when he was officially replaced by Choummaly Sayasone....
succeeded Nouhak Phoumsavan in 1998 (although some accounts have him succeeding Kaysone in 1992). Other recent leading figures have included Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh was Vice President of Laos from 1996 to 1998 and third Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Laos from 1998 to 2001...
and Boungnang Vorachith, who have each served as prime minister.
Party's Secretary-General and State President,Chairman of the National Assembly, Prime Minister, Vice President is most important members of the Politburo LPRP.
Members of the Politburo of the Lao PDR elected at the 8th Party Congress:
1.Lt General Choummaly Sayasone
Choummaly Sayasone
Lieutenant General Choummaly Sayasone is General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic...
2.Lt General Samane Vignaket
Samane Vignaket
Lieutenant General Samane Vignaket is a former President of the National Assembly of Laos, who is now in charge of ideological and cultural works of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party . He is a member of the LPRP Politburo....
3.Mr Thongsing Thammavong
Thongsing Thammavong
Thongsing Thammavong is a Laotian politician. He is a member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and has been a member of the LPRP Politburo since 1991. He currently serves in the National Assembly of Laos, representing Luang Prabang Province , and was the President of the National Assembly...
4.Colonel Boungnang Vorachit
5.General Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh
Sisavath Keobounphanh was Vice President of Laos from 1996 to 1998 and third Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Laos from 1998 to 2001...
6.Major General Asang Laoly
Asang Laoly
Major General Asang Laoly is a Laotian politician and member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. As of 2010, he is First Deputy Prime Minister of Laos.-References:...
7.Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh
Bouasone Bouphavanh
Bouasone Bouphavanh was Prime Minister of Laos from 2006 to 2010. He was officially appointed to the office by the National Assembly of Laos on June 8, 2006, during a major government reshuffle. He replaced Bounnhang Vorachith who became vice president. Bouasone had previously served as first...
8.Dr Thongloun Sisoulith
Thongloun Sisoulith
Thongloun Sisoulith is a Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, as well as the current Foreign Minister. He became Deputy Prime Minister and President of the State Planning Committee on March 27, 2001, and subsequently he was appointed as Foreign Minister on June 8, 2006, replacing Somsavat Lengsavad...
9.Major General Douangchay Phichith
10.Mr Somsavat Lengsavad
Somsavat Lengsavad
Somsavat Lengsavad is a deputy prime minister of Laos. An ethnic Chinese, Chinese name: 凌绪光 , who hails from Luang Prabang with ancestry from Hainan, he was a protege of Kaysone Phomvihane....
11.Mrs Pany Yathotou
The party operates according to the principles of democratic centralism
Democratic centralism
Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party...
. Due to the covert nature of the party in its first two decades it remains semi-secret in its operations though it is becoming more open as a new generation takes control.
Ideology
The LPRP is a Marxist-LeninistMarxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
party patterned after the Vietnamese Communist Party and strongly influenced by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the USSR's Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
. In the late 1980s the party attempted to follow the example of Gorbachev's perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
reforms by introducing market measures and reducing controls over state run enterprises as well as abandoning attempts at agricultural collectivisation. These reforms have been expanded in the 1990s. However, the Laotian party was reluctant to follow the Soviet example of glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
and has avoided loosening the party's political monopoly in the country or allowing for a free press. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the party distanced itself from Vietnam slightly and began to look to the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
as a model for future development. The party would allow economic liberalization
Economic liberalization
Economic liberalization is a very broad term that usually refers to fewer government regulations and restrictions in the economy in exchange for greater participation of private entities; the doctrine is associated with classical liberalism...
and a degree of cultural freedom but would not allow anyone to question the rule of the party over the country.
See also
- List of Communist parties
- MarxismMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
- LeninismLeninismIn Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
- Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
- Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary PartyPolitburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary PartyThe Politburo of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, formerly the Standing Committee of the Central Committee, includes the top leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party...