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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
The National Congress of People's Representatives,
recreating
the mise-en-scène of 1945, met in the auditorium of the
former
United States community school on December 1. Sisana Sisan
delivered the opening speech on behalf of the preliminary
committee
for convening the National Congress of People's
Representatives. So
far only the LPF and other front organizations and
delegations from
the various provinces were listed as attending among the
264
delegates. The preliminary committee thereupon dissolved
itself.
Prince Souphanouvong, named to the presidium of the
National
Congress, said in his speech that the congress would
"study" the
king's abdication, the dissolution of the PGNU and the
National
Political Consultative Council, and the political report
on
abolishing the monarchy and establishing a people's
democratic
republic. This last item was read by Kaysone, who was also
on the
congress presidium. For most of the world, it was the
first look at
the man who, for thirty years, had led the revolution in
Laos from
behind the scenes in Vietnam and in the caves of Houaphan.
Kaysone
presided at the December 2 session. He began by reading a
motion to
establish the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which was
passed by
acclamation. Kaysone then nominated Souphanouvong to be
president
of the country. Again, the vote was unanimous. Next,
Nouhak took
the podium to say it was necessary to elect a Supreme
People's
Assembly. He proposed Souphanouvong as president of the
Supreme
People's Assembly and then read a list of forty-four
names. This
vote was also unanimous.
Officially, the party--which had been renamed the Lao
People's Revolutionary Party
(LPRP--see Glossary)
at its Second
Party
Congress in 1972--played no role in the National Congress.
But it
began making its public appearance immediately thereafter
in
indirect ways; for example, banners carrying revolutionary
slogans
and messages of congratulations from North Vietnamese,
Soviet, and
Chinese leaders began to appear. With power firmly in its
grasp,
the LPRP no longer had any reason to hide its identity.
For the
first time, the party publicly identified the seven
members of its
Political Bureau (Politburo). From this point, the party
alone made
decisions in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Gone
were the
"democratic freedoms" that had been extolled in the
National
Political Consultative Council's eighteen points. The
Neutralist
Party and other noncommunist parties disappeared, leaving
a oneparty regime. Those who objected could leave. Some 350,000
availed
themselves of this opportunity over the next few years,
leaving
behind their homes and belongings, and, in many cases,
even their
loved ones.
Data as of July 1994
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