Lao People's Revolutionary Party
political party in Laos
Key facts
- Abbreviation
- LPRP
- General secretary
- Thongloun Sisoulith
- Standing member
- Vilay Lakhamfong
- Founder
- Kaysone Phomvihane
- Founded
- 22 March 1955, (71 years, 73 days)
- Split from
- Indochinese Communist Party
- Headquarters
- Vientiane
- Newspaper
- Pasaxon
- Youth wing
- 2nd December Young Pioneer Brigade , Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union
- Armed wing
- Lao People's Armed Forces
- Membership 2026
- 421,865
- Ideology
- Communism Marxism–Leninism Kaysone Phomvihane Thought
~40 min read
Article
The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) 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.
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.