Lao Patriotic Front
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Lao People's Revolutionary Party
ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ Phak Pasason Pativat Lao |
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| General Secretary | Bounnhang Vorachit |
| Founded | 22 March 1955 |
| Headquarters | Vientiane |
| Newspaper | Pasason |
| Youth wing | Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union |
| Armed Wing | Lao People's Armed Forces |
| Membership (2011) | 191,700 |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| National affiliation | Lao Front for National Construction |
| International affiliation |
International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties International Communist Seminar |
| National Assembly |
128 / 132
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The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (Laotian: ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ), formerly the Lao People's Party, is a communist party that has governed Laos since 1975. The policy-making organs are the Politburo, Secretariat and the Central Committee. A party congress, which elects members to the politburo and central committee, is held every five years. 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 LPRP.
The party has its origins in the Indochinese Communist Party founded by Ho Chi Minh in 1930 (see Communist Party of Vietnam). The ICP was entirely Vietnamese at its inception but grew throughout French Indochina and was able to found a small "Lao section" in 1936. In the mid-1940s, a campaign to recruit Laotian members was instigated and in 1946 or 1947, Kaysone Phomvihan, a law student at the University of Hanoi, was recruited, along with Nouhak Phoumsavan.
In February 1951, the Second Congress of the ICP resolved to disband the party and to form three separate parties representing the three states of Indochina. In reality, the ICP was a Vietnamese organization and the separate parties created were dominated by the Vietnamese parties regardless of their national affiliations. For instance, in February 1951, only 81 of the 2,091 ICP members were Lao. A movement known as the Pathet Lao (Land of Laos) was founded and Prince Souphanouvong became its figurehead leader. It was in theory a communist resistance movement meant to fight alongside the Viet Minh against French colonialism during the first Indochina War, but it never really fought much of anyone and was organized as a reserve organization of the Viet Minh. On March 22, 1955, at its First Party Congress, the clandestine Lao's People's Party or Phak Pasason Lao was officially proclaimed. The First Party Congress was attended by 25 delegates representing a party membership of 300 to 400. The Party Congress was supervised and organized by the Vietnamese. The Central Committee of the Party included Kaysone Phomvihane, Nouhak Phoumsavan, Bun Phommahaxay, Sisavath Keobounphanh, Khamseng (May 1955, supplemented Souphanouvong, Phoumi Vongvichit, Phoun Sipaseut and 1956 supplemented Sisomphon Lovansay, Khamtay Siphandone).
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