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Laos

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Laos

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The unicameral National Assembly of Laos (Sapha Heng Xat) is the parliament of Laos. It was established in its current form by the Lao Constitution of 1991 ^[1], replacing the Supreme People's Assembly. After the December 1997 elections, the number of seats were increased to 99, a new structure was announced and Samane Vignaket was elected as its president. The National Assembly meets in Vientiane.

Laos is a single-party state. This means that only one political party, the Revolutionary People's Party of Laos, is legally allowed to hold effective power. Most of the National Assembly's actions simply rubber stamp the party's decisions, but efforts have been made to increase the capacity of its members, aiming to strengthen their legislative, oversight, and representational capacities.^[2]

The current body, elected in national polling on April 30, 2006 has 115 members, elected for a five-year term. It met for the first time on June 8, 2006. Thongsing Thammavong was elected the Assembly's president. Vice-President is Mrs Pany Yathotou and Dr Xaysomphone Phomvihane.

Committees

Parliamentary committees of the National Assembly currently include:^[3]

• Law Committee
• Economy, Planning and Finance Committee
• Cultural and Social Committee
• Ethnic Affairs Committee
• National Defence and Security Committee
• Foreign Affairs Committee

Latest election

See also

• List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Laos

External links

• National Assembly of Laos official homepage

References