Hong Kong Standard Outside world shut out at crucial selection time VIENTIANE: A veil of secrecy has fallen around the Lao national assembly which meets behind closed doors on Monday to choose the country's next president and prime minister, making predictions virtually impossible. At the best of times, following the country's opaque political system is like watching a shadow play, but the decision to exclude diplomats and members of international organisations from the opening ceremony will make it even more difficult to figure out who will occupy the top three slots of president, prime minister and national assembly chairman _ currently held by octogenarian Nouhak Phoumsavanh, Khamtay Siphandone and Samane Viyaketh. "It's impossible to read the tea leaves because we can't even see the tea cup," said one diplomat. In the past, foreigners have been invited to the first day of the legislature. This year's departure from tradition has fuelled speculation that Laos may be turning in on itself. "It may mean they want to keep the international community at arm's length when so much is at stake on the domestic scene," the diplomat added. Mr Khamtay, vice-president Sisavath Keobounphan or national assembly president Samane Vignaket are the front- runners to succeed Mr Nouhak. The new assembly, which will run for a five-year term, is full of new, faces, most of them younger and better educated. Only 33 incumbents were re-elected and 70 deputies have university education. There are more women too, with 21 elected, while only seven deputies among the 99 legislators are older than 61. - AFP Khamtay Simphandone elected President of Laos. HANOI, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - The National Assembly of Laos elected on Tuesday by secret ballot Khamtay Simphandone, 74, to the post of country's president. He replaced Nouhak Phoumsavanh, who had recently resigned. Phoumsavanh was at the head of the Laos People's Democratic Republic since 1993. The post of prime minister, which was previously held by the new head of state, was assigned to Sisavath Keobounphanh. Saman Vignaket was re-elected to the post of parliament speaker. The top leaders of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, who will govern the country until the year 2003, were elected during the Monday session of the parliament, which was attended by 99 mps. Laos assembly chooses new president, premier By Sutin Wannabovorn BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - The National Assembly of Laos Tuesday voted to appoint premier Khamtay Siphandone as the country's new president to replace aging leader Nouhak Phoumsavan, an assembly official said. It also voted to appoint conservative leader and current vice-president, Sisavat Keobounphan, to be the Southeast Asian country's new prime minister. The ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) led a Communist army which overthrew the then pro-American government in 1975 and has run the country with a communist style leadership since. Laos, with a population of 4.6 million, is one of the world's poorest and least developed countries with an average per capita income of $350 a year. "The parliament this morning unanimously voted for Khamtay to be president and also voted to appoint Sisavat to be the next premier," the official told Reuters by telephone from the capital Vientiane. He said the assembly had approved the new leaders after Nouhak, 82, announced his plans to retire. The 99-member assembly, the fourth since 1975, was elected in December and began its first three day session Monday to select a new president and appoint a new government line-up. Vientiane-based diplomats said the new appointments were not surprising but believed that the new leaders would take the country on a more conservative path. "What I can say at this moment is that Sisavat will lead the Laos government back to more conservatism," a Vientiane-based diplomat told Reuters. Sisavat Keobounphan, 70, is regarded as a conservative leader. He commanded the Lao army that fought a border war with Thailand in 1986. Another diplomat voiced his disappointment over the appointment of Sisavat. "I earlier thought that the party would choose Samane (Vingaket), who is regarded as the pragmatic one, to be new premier," he said. He said Samane, who was reappointed as president of parliament, was now ranked number two in the 15-member Laos politburo. "I heard that the party earlier preferred Samane but I don't know why they switched to Sisavat at the last minute," he said. The LPRP has dominated power in the country where all policies are dictated by a 15-member politburo and 39 members of a central committee, a political analyst said. "I heard that the NA (National Assembly) were told by the party to select Sisavat as the next premier," he added. The leadership declared an economic reform policy in 1990 when it relaxed rules on market oriented policies but backed down after the its fellow ASEAN members faced the current economic crisis. Laos was admitted to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma) in July last year. Laos' President Nouhak steps down, replaced by Khamtay BANGKOK, Feb. 24 (Kyodo) -- Laos' parliament Tuesday approved the resignation of octogenarian state President Nouhak Phoumsavanh and chose Khamtay Siphandone, currently president of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party, as his replacement, Western diplomatic sources in Vientiane said. The sources said 69-year-old Sisavat Keobounphanh, was chosen to replace 74-year-old Khamtay as premier, while Politburo member Oudom Khattigna replaces Sisavat as state vice president. Nouhak, 83, a veteran revolutionary, departs from the largely ceremonial post of state president almost two years after he stepped down as party chief and retired from the party Politburo in March 1996. By securing the dual posts of party president and state president, Khamtay follows in the footsteps of longtime party leader Kaysone Phomvihane, who traded the premiership for the state presidency in 1991, about a year before his death. Sisavat, a former Vientiane party chief, was reinstated as a Politburo member in March 1996 after being dropped from it in early 1991 due to a corruption scandal. He now ranks eighth in the party's nine-member Politburo. Two new vice premiers were named -- Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavat and Defense Minister Choummali Saignason -- both of whom will serve in the dual posts concurrently. Choummali ranks fourth in the Politburo, just after National Assembly President Saman Vignaket and Oudom, while Somsavat is not a Poliburo member. Saman was reportedly reelected for another five-year term on Monday. Two current vice premiers, Politburo member Boungnang Volachit and former Politburo member Khamphoui Keoboualapha, were retained. Laos assembly approves retirement of president BANGKOK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The National Assembly of Laos on Tuesday approved the retirement of Nouhak Poumsavanh, the communist country's president since 1993, an assembly official said. Foreign diplomats said they expected the 72-year-old Nouhak to be replaced by Prime Minister Khamtay Siphandone. "Our understanding is that President Nouhak will retire and Khamtay will replace him," a diplomat in the capital Vientiane told Reuters by telephone. The 99-member assembly, which was elected in a national poll last December, began a three-day session on Monday to select a new president and appoint a new government line- up, a government spokesman said. The Nation (Bangkok) / Politics Laos approves major govt shakeup list BY KULACHADA CHAIPIPAT / The Nation LAOS Tuesday braced for its first major leadership change in five years to firm up the communist party's grip on the country's political and economic mechanisms amid the region's economic volatility. In a reshuffle list which was approved by the new National Assembly Tuesday, party chief and Prime Minister Gen Khamtay Siphandone was elevated to the position of president, making him the most powerful person in the country since the late president, Kaysone Phomvihane, said an assembly source. Khamtay, 74, replaced 81-year-old Nouhak Phoumsavanh, who was removed from the party's politburo in 1996. In an unprecedented move, the country's vice president and ranked seventh in the nine-member politburo, Gen Sisavath Keobounphanh, took Khamtay's place as prime minister, the source said. Sisavath, 69, had been expected to be appointed national assembly chairman. In 1996, Sisavath was reinstated in the politburo and named vice president after being purged in 1991 for his alleged involvement in corruption. He was replaced as vice president by party number four, Oudom Khattiya. A political observer said Sisavath's elevation was linked to the fact that he was not only a trusted confidante of Khamtay but also because he has diplomatic skill in dealing with international affairs, a quality lacking among the party's top echelons. A party source said the political veteran had earlier offered to take the job but was rejected by National Assembly chairman Samarn Viyaketh. His appointment is for a five-year term. Tuesday's reshuffle also brought in two additional deputy prime ministers, Foreign Minister Somsavath Lengsavad and Defence Minister Gen Choumaly Chaiyasorn, who will also retain their present posts. Two existing deputy prime ministers, Bounyang Vorachith and Khampoui Keobualaphah, remained in their current positions. However, Bounyang was given the additional responsibility of supervising internal affairs, while Khampoui will take charge of foreign investment and concurrently assume the finance portfolio, replacing Saysomphone Phoumvihane, who will become a PM's Office Minister. Diplomats in Vientiane were surprised by Khampoui's continued presence in the government. The economic tzar was removed in 1996 from the party's politburo and central committee over a corruption scandal. But according to a party source, he was kept due to his economic experience, which was sorely lacking in the communist state. The reshuffle also affected other economic portfolios. Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Thongloune Sisoulith, who was earlier touted as foreign minister, was appointed to head the assembly's Foreign Relations Committee. He was replaced by Somphanh Paengkhammi. The governor of Xiengkhoung province, Poumi Tippavorn, was appointed commerce minister to replace Sompadith Vorasarn, who was earlier transferred to the Foreign Ministry to be given diplomatic training. Minister of Culture and Information Osakanh Thammatheva was transferred to the PM's Office to take over party propaganda. He was replaced by the director general of the Political Ideology Institute, Sileua Bounkham. Interior Minister Gen Asang Laoly, Communications Minister Phao Bounnaphol and Agriculture Minister Xieng Saphangthong remained in their jobs. The final list was approved after two weeks of intense debates among the party's top officials ahead of the National Assembly's inaugural session that began on Monday. "Choosing all veterans for important jobs in the executive and legislative branches indicates the party's desire to firm up its grip. The party's enemy is the people's suffering. They [party leaders] know Laos cannot escape the effects of Asia's economic crisis, the observer said.