Laotian independence leader dies

Issue 

Laotian independence leader dies

By Stephen Robson

Kaysone Phomvihane, the President of Laos and a prominent leader of the independence struggle in Laos died on November 21 at the age of 71.

Kaysone participated in the student movement against French colonialism in the early 1940s while studying in Hanoi. Returning home he participated in the 1945 uprising against the Japanese.

As the French reconsolidated their hold in Laos, Kaysone helped initiate armed units to fight for their independence, the Pathet Lao.

A founding member of the Lao People's Party in 1955, Kaysone was later to become the general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.

Kaysone and other revolutionaries set up their base in a cave amongst the hills of north-eastern Laos. It was only after their victory in 1975 that the revolutionaries were come down from the hills.

Following the fall of Saigon in early April 1975, the LPRP issued an appeal for a uprising, taking power in what was essentially a bloodless revolution.

By December 1975, the monarchy was abolished and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established by a National Congress of People's Representatives. Kaysone became the new prime minister.

At the last congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party in March 1991, Kaysone became president of the party and subsequently was elected President by the Supreme People's Assembly.

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