Lao communist party elects Thongloun as new general secretary

VIENTIANE - Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has been elected as the new general secretary of the country's ruling communist party's central committee, Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) announced at the ongoing 11th party congress held in Vientiane on Friday.

The three-day LPRP Congress, opened at the National Convention Center on Wednesday, elected the party's new central committee (CC) members on Thursday to lead the overall tasks of the nation during 2021-25. The CC members were elected by 768 delegates, who represented all 348,686 LPRP party members at the congress.

On Friday, the new central committee held its inaugural meeting to elect members of its politburo, the top political body in Lao politics, and to elect its general secretary.

"An election was also held to choose the new general secretary of the central committee, the top post in the party, who will commonly also holds the post of state president," local daily Vientiane Times noted on Friday.

The closing session of the 11th LPRP Congress on Friday afternoon announced a 13-member 11th CC politburo, with two more members compared with the former politburo. The new politburo does not include the 10th CC general secretary and the incumbent President Bounnhang Vorachit.