Laos leadership transition expected in April legislative session

The South-East Asian nation of Laos is set to greet new heads-of-state and government later this month as the country prepares for transition in key posts of President and Prime Minister expected to follow traditional Lao New Year festivities celebrated next week.

The leadership transition takes place as the country of some six-and-a-half million continues in its 2016 role as chair of the 10-member ASEAN group of nations, culminating in September with the arrival of world and regional leaders for international summits in Vientiane.

Candidates for high office and their deputies plus other key roles will be offered to members of the countrys March-elected National Assembly (NA) for consideration at the legislature's first session scheduled for April 20-23, according to a resolution issued by the NA Standing Committee.

Leadership aspirants, whose candidacies come with assent of the Central Committee of countrys ruling Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP), are expected to reflect both the outcomes of Januarys 10th Congress and the make-up of its Political Bureau (Politbureau), which witnessed the elevation of Bounnhang Vorachit to the peak party leadership position of Secretary-General.

Previous LPRP Secretary-General, the countrys two-term head-of-state President Choummaly Sayasone and the serving head-of-government, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, are not standing for reappointment to their respective roles.

Adhering to a 5-year electoral cycle, Laos officially enshrined a preexisting convention for two-term limits applied to the position of head-of-state in its state constitution via an amendment approved by the National Assembly in December last year.

With single-party political and governance institutions based on a Marxist-Leninist model, the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established on Dec. 2, 1975 led by LPRP co-founder and inaugural Secretary-General, President Kaysone Phomvihane. Enditem