New Lao Assembly to Push for Political Reform

By Sutin Wannabovorn
    VIENTIANE, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Top candidates for Laos' 
Sunday elections have said the new National Assembly will 
push for further political reforms.
    But diplomats based in the capital Vientiane said 
little is likely to change in the communist country after 
the poll.
    "The new NA (National Assembly) will have the crucial 
task of pushing for more political reform," Vice President 
Sisavat Keobounphan told factory workers late on Friday at 
the end of a quiet election campaign.
    Sisavat is one of the 160 candidates vying for 99 seats 
in the assembly, expanded from the current 85 seats.
    But despite promises to open up the political system, 
all but four candidates belong to the ruling Laos People 
Revolutionary Party's (LPRP).
    There are at present only four non-party members in the 
assembly.
    "The election will lead to even more conservative 
government and to a continuity of the party's domination," 
said one diplomat in the capital.
    But Somphong Mongkhonvilay, a vice chairman of State 
Planning of the Socio-Economic Development Plan, also 
insisted that the National Assembly -- the fourth since the 
communist LPRP took power in 1975 -- would aim for reform.
    The LPRP abolished the monarchy following communist 
victories in Cambodia and Vietnam that year.
    The first assembly drafted a new charter, the second 
implemented it and the third endorsed the country's 
economic and development plan, he said.
    "The crucial task of the fourth NA is to push for more 
political reform and we will act as the bridge between the 
party, people and the government," Somphong said.
    "(The) party will lean more to people and be more open 
to catch up with other ASEAN members and international 
community," he added.
    This is Laos' first election since becoming a full 
member of the Association of South East Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) earlier this year.
    The atmosphere in the capital city was quiet just one 
day before the election with no political activity or 
political discussion and only a handful of signboards and 
posters up.
    Candidates and election committee officials were 
confident that most if not all of the 2.27 million eligible 
voters would turn up to cast their vote at the semi-
compulsory poll on Sunday.
    "It is a duty of the people to vote for the NA," said 
taxi driver Kamvong Sri-udom.
    Community leaders have banned residents from travelling 
far from their villages just before the election.
    "We will definitely go vote otherwise we will lose our 
job or get arrested," a worker at a Laos beer factory said.
    Official results of the poll are not expected to be 
released until the middle of January, an election 
commission official said.