Lao People's Revolutionary Party

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Lao People's Revolutionary Party
ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ
Phak Pasason Pativat Lao
General SecretaryBounnhang Vorachith
Founded22 March 1955
HeadquartersVientiane
NewspaperPasason
Youth wingLao People's Revolutionary Youth Union
Armed wingLao People's Armed Forces
Membership (2011)191,700
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationLao Front for National Construction
International affiliationInternational Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
National Assembly
144 / 149
Party flag

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (Lao: ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ), formerly the Lao People's Party, is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Laos. It has emerged from the Communist Party of Vietnam founded by Hồ Chí Minh in 1930. It has governed in Laos since 1975. The policy-making organs are the Politburo, Secretariat and the Central Committee. A party congress is held every five years. The congress elects members to the politburo and central committee. The congress used to also elect a secretariat, but this body was abolished in 1991. As of 2016, 128 of the 132 members of the National Assembly of Laos were from the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.

History[change | change source]

The party has its origins in the Communist Party of Indochina founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930 (see Communist Party of Vietnam). The ICP was entirely Vietnamese at its beginning, but it grew throughout French Indochina. The Communist Party of Indochina was able to found a small "Lao section" in 1936. In the mid-1940s, a campaign to recruit Laotian members began. In 1946 or 1947, Kaysone Phomvihan, a law student at the University of Hanoi, was recruited, along with Nouhak Phoumsavan.

Sources[change | change source]

  • Stuart-Fox, Martin (2008) Historical Dictionary of Laos. Scarecrow Press. ISBNs 0810864118, 978-0-81086-411-5.