Laos Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Type: Communist state

Capital: Vientiane

Political subdivisions: 16 provinces subdivided into districts, cantons, and villages

Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction

National holiday: 2 December

Branches President· 37-member Supreme People’s Council; Cabinet; Cabinet is totally Communist but Council contains a few nominal neutralistsand non-Communists; National Congress of People’s Representatives established the current government structure in December 1975

Government leaders. SOUPH ANOU-VONG, President (since December 1975); KAYSONE PHOMV1HAN, Chairman (since December 1975)

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Elections: elections for National Assembly, originally scheduled for 1 April 1976, have not yet been held

Political parties and leaders-Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (Communist), Kaysone Phomvihan, party chairman; includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutralist Forces; other parties moribund

Other political or pressure groups: nonCommunist political groups moribund; most leaders have fled the country

Member of: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Laos on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Laos 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Laos 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.