Laos Travel Guide

At first glance the politics and economy of Laos seem simple enough: a one- party system is controlled by ageing revolutionaries that themselves have me a new elite, who have the power to control the exploitation of the country’s natural resources, can squash any dissent and cooperate enough with foreign donors to keep the aid dollars coming in. But this generalization is just that - the reality is more complex.

Laos is indeed a single party socialist republic, with the only legal political being the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP). President Chummalv Savasone is both the head of state and the head of the LPRP; the I of government is Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. Both were appointed to their live-year terms by the 115-member National Assembly in June 2006. The National Assembly itself was elected in April 2006 and consists of 113 LPRP members and two non-partisan independents. There was, and remains, no legal opposition.

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