Lao People's Revolutionary Party
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP)[a] is the founding and sole ruling party of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The party's monopoly on state power is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Constitution of Laos, and it maintains a unitary state with centralised control over the economy and military.
"LPRP" redirects here. For the NASA program, see Lunar Precursor Robotic Program.
Lao People's Revolutionary Party ພັກປະຊາຊົນປະຕິວັດລາວ
The LPRP was established on 22 March 1955 by former members of the Indochinese Communist Party. It led the insurgency against the Royal Lao Government and supported North Vietnamese forces in the Vietnam War. The insurgency culminated with the LPRP seizing power in Laos in 1975. During its first years in power, the party strengthened party-state control over society and tried to establish a planned economy based on the Soviet model. In the 1980s, influenced by market reforms in China and Vietnam, the LPRP initiated economic reforms that privatised state companies and legalised private property.
Democratic centralism, a concept conceived by Russian Marxist Vladimir Lenin, is the organisational form of the LPRP. The highest institution of the party is the National Congress, which elects the Central Committee. In between party congresses, the Central Committee is the highest decision-making organ regarding party affairs. After a party congress, the Central Committee elects the Politburo and Secretariat, as well as the General Secretary, the highest party officer. In between sessions of the Central Committee, the Politburo is the highest decision-making body. As of 2021, the 11th Politburo comprises 13 members. The current party leader is Thongloun Sisoulith, who holds the titles of General Secretary of the Central Committee, Chairman of the Defence and Public Security Commission, and Prime Minister of Laos, who is the head of government.
The LPRP is committed to communism and participates in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, an annual international forum of communist parties. According to the party statute, the party adheres to Marxism–Leninism and Kaysone Phomvihane Thought. Upon taking power in 1975, the party sought to immediately abolish the capitalist mode of production and establish a socialist society. By the 1990s, the direction of the party had changed, and the party leadership believed that Laos was too underdeveloped to build socialism. The party thus adopted state capitalism as a tool for working towards a socialist society.
Governance[edit]
Democratic centralism[edit]
The party's centralised and hierarchical organisational structure is based on democratic centralism, which was conceived by Vladimir Lenin.[31][32] This structure entails that lower party organs obey the decisions of the higher ones, such as the LPRP Central Committee.[32] It also entails a ban on internal party factions.[32] In the end, every decision-making organ has to be guided by the principle of collective leadership, a process that emphasises collegial decision-making, in contrast to one-person dominance.[32] LPRP General Secretary Kaysone Phomvihane, in a speech to the 5th National Congress in 1991, stated "that our Party's democracy is a centralised one. Therefore, we must strictly implement the principle according to which the minority must yield to the majority; the lower leading organisation execute the upper leading organisation's orders. The whole Party follows the Central Committee."[33]
Favoritism[edit]
Nepotism, meaning favouritism that is granted to relatives, and patronage, the support a powerful individual bestows on another, is a mainstay of LPRP politics.[34][35] It is estimated that 25 per cent of the 10th Central Committee members are connected through birth or marriage to one of the founding revolutionary families.[31] The most prominent example is Xaysomphone Phomvihane, the eldest son of Kaysone Phomvihane, who was elected to the 10th and 11th politburos.[36] Kaysone Phomvihane's wife, Thongvin Phomvihane, served as General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union from 1988 to 1993.[37] Khampheng Saysompheng, the son-in-law of former LPRP General Secretary Khamtai Siphandon, was elected to the 9th Central Committee, was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in 2015, and was elected to the 10th Central Committee in 2016.[36] In 2015, Viengthong Siphandone, the wife of Khampheng Saysompheng and daughter of Khamtai Siphandon, was appointed chairwoman of the State Audit Organisation, and in 2016 was elected to the 10th Central Committee.[36] Viengthong Siphandone's brother Sonexay Siphandone was transferred from his governorship of Champasak Province and appointed Minister of the Office of Government in 2015, elected to the 10th Politburo in 2016, and reelected to the 11th in 2021.[36]
This tendency continued under the stewardship of LPRP General Secretary Choummaly Sayasone,[36] whose brother-in-law Khammeung Phongthady was elected to the 9th Central Committee and was reassigned from his governorship of Vientiane province to be cabinet chief of the Office of the Presidency.[38] Khammeung's reassignment opened the door for Choummaly Sayasone to appoint his eldest son, Vidong Sayasone, to become Secretary of the Vientiane LPRP Provincial Committee.[39] In addition to his secretaryship, Vidong Sayasone was later elected to the 9th Central Committee.[39] Choummaly Sayasone's two other sons, Phoxay Sayasone and Phokham Sayasone, were also appointed to leading party offices, with Phoxay Sayasone elected as a substitute member of the 10th Central Committee.[39] The current LPRP General Secretary Thongloun Sisoulith married the adopted daughter of former acting president Phoumi Vongvichit.[40]
Writing in Politics and Reform in Laos, Stuart-Fox remarks that "senior Party members [after the revolution] soon began to dispense patronage in the traditional Lao way, rewarding extended family members and loyal retainers with favours and jobs, for which they were often poorly qualified, to build a political support base ... Ironically, this process of political-economic elite formation was powerfully assisted by the introduction of the economic reforms of the 1980s".[35] In this sense, Lao political culture has changed little with the communist seizure of power.[35] This inherent tendency in the LPRP could explain the rent-seeking behaviour of some of its members and its limited organisational capacity.[35] The LPRP differs in this way from its counterparts in China and Vietnam.[41] Stuart-Fox contends that Laos's lack of a state bureaucratic tradition throughout its history has forced Laotians to rely on their extended families and friends.[42] Lao specialists Keith Barney and Simon Creak disagree with Stuart-Fox's assertion and argue "[that] the relatively institutionalised character of Lao authoritarianism, which has placed the top leadership positions less as powers in themselves, and more under the broad discipline of the LPRP. To express this another way, the LPRP provides a disciplining mechanism for the patron-client relations that continue to function throughout society, which in turn depends on party connections."[43]
International outreach[edit]
The LPRP maintains party-to-party relations with communist and non-communist parties, alike. It is a regular attendee of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, an international forum of communist parties. It also maintains close party-to-party relations with the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Communist Party of Cuba, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Workers' Party of Korea, and the Cambodian People's Party.[82]
The CPV and the CPC usually compete for influence in Laos, but the LPRP remains closest to the CPV.[82] While the CPC often gives aid to Laos and the LPRP, the relationship lacks the rituals that characterise the LPRP–CPV relationship.[83] To exemplify, during a routine visit to Laos in December 2015, the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh awarded the Order of Independence (Class 2 and 3), Order of Labour (Class 3), and Order of Friendship to his Laotian counterparts for their "outstanding performance" in enhancing ties between Laos and Vietnam.[84] The priority given to ties with the CPV is seen in other areas as well.[85] For instance, upon his election as LPRP General Secretary, Bounnhang Vorachith reached out to his Vietnamese counterpart first and to the CPC at a later date.[85]