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FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0002
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1976
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1056
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0499
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, INR, DRL 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2016 
TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL LA
SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY "ELECTS" A NEW PRESIDENT AND 
PRIME MINISTER 
 
REF: VIENTIANE 433 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Kristen Bauer, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In its inaugural session June 8, the 
newly-elected National Assembly selected a new President, 
Vice President and Prime Minister and approved the Prime 
Minister's cabinet. Party Secretary Choummaly Sayasone takes 
over as President of Laos, while former PM Bounnyang Vorachit 
has been kicked upstairs to be Vice President.  Khamtai 
Siphandone protege Bouasone Bouphavane becomes Prime 
Minister.  Bouasone announced his new cabinet, which retains 
some ministers, shifts others, and elevates a number of 
technocrats who joined the Central Committee at the 8th Party 
Congress in March.  Most significantly, Politburo member 
Thongloun Sisoulith will take over as the Foreign Minister 
from long-time FM Somsavat Lengsavad, who will move to the 
Prime Minister's Office.  Several other relatively young, 
perhaps more flexible, Central Committee members will also 
move up.  This being Laos, the new cabinet is no "dream 
team," but the transfusion of new blood can't help but 
improve the government's normally lackluster performance. We 
also hope the rise of moderates like Thongloun will help the 
U.S.-Lao relationship. End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In a departure from past practice, the Assembly 
invited the diplomatic community to sit through its entire 
opening session, during which the new Assembly members 
formalized all the government and cabinet changes anticipated 
since the 8th Party Congress in March.  Since Lao democracy 
has a long way to go, the Assembly session could not have 
been less spontaneous. The entire three-hour opening session 
was heavily scripted; none of the foreigners in attendance 
had any illusion that the full slate of cabinet changes 
hadn't been worked out long in advance. The various 
acceptance speeches were so identical we concluded they must 
have been written by the same hack at the Party's Kilometer 6 
headquarters.  Surprisingly, however, the Assembly took the 
bold step of "electing" the new appointees in front of the 
diplomatic corps in attendance, making use of their 
UN-donated electronic voting system.  The votes created some 
confusion when the numbers broadcast on the electronic tally 
board didn't add up, but the Assembly President ignored the 
discrepancies and forged ahead. 
 
¶3. (U) Rumors had been flying since March about who would 
take over as the new President, since it was widely assumed 
Khamtai would step down. For weeks, the consensus had rested 
on Party Secretary Choummaly taking over from  Khamtai and 
for the Party's golden boy Bouasone taking the helm at the 
PM's Office from the ineffectual Bounnyang, and the Assembly 
did not disappoint. After electing Politburo member Thongsing 
Thammavong as Assembly President (allowing the retirement of 
long-serving Assembly President Samane Viyaket), and Pany 
Yathoteu and Saisomphone Phomvihane as co-Vice Presidents, 
the Assembly turned its attention to the important post of 
National President. Following Khamtai's formal resignation 
speech, Thongsing nominated Choummaly as new President and 
Bounnyang as VP; the Assembly ratified both selections 
unanimously. 
 
¶4. (U) Embarrassingly, after the new Assembly President, 
Thongsing Thammavomg, nominated the new Prime Minister, 
President of the Supreme Court and Prosecutor General, he 
forgot to call for a vote on the nominations, as called for 
in the constitution, and summoned PM nominee Bouasone 
Bouphavane up to the stage to deliver his acceptance speech. 
A brave Assembly delegate spoke up before Bouasone could 
reach the podium, politely requesting a vote on the 
nominations.  While Bouasone did an about-face and went back 
to his seat, Thongsing ran through the motions and called for 
the vote on the PM; four delegates actually voted against 
Bouasone, although he still handily carried the nomination. 
In the confusion, the Assembly never got around to ratifying 
the President's nomination of the new Supreme Court President 
and Prosecutor General; we assume they will sort out those 
formalities later. 
 
¶5. (U) In his acceptance remark, the new PM informed the 
Assembly that the government would be reorganized, with the 
number of ministries or ministry-level organizations going 
from 13 to 16. The biggest changes would be the restructuring 
 
VIENTIANE 00000526  002 OF 002 
 
 
of the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts and Ministry of 
Commerce to create two new ministries: a Ministry of Energy 
and Mines (to handle the hydropower and mining portfolios, we 
understand) and a Ministry of Industry and Trade. The 
Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) was also 
elevated to become a ministry-level organization, although 
still within the Prime Minister's Office. 
 
¶6. (U) The most significant of Bouasone's appointments was 
Politburo member Thongloun as new Foreign Minister, a change 
that we had been hearing about for months.  Thongloun was 
once Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Relations 
Committee, speaks English, and reportedly for many years has 
had a keen interest in foreign affairs. FM Somavat will 
retain his DPM position but will move to the PM's Office, 
becoming Bouasone's new right-hand man.  Former Commerce 
Minister Soulivong was put in charge of Thongloun's old post, 
the Committee for Planning and Investment. 
 
¶7. (U) Other significant new ministerial appointments include 
former Lao Women's Union President Onechanh Thammavong to the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare; former head of the 
Party School Chaleun Yiapaoheu to the Ministry of Justice; 
National University Rector Somkot Mangnomek to Ministry of 
Education; former Vice Minister of Industry and Handicrafts 
Nam Viyaket to the Ministry of Industry and Trade; former Lao 
Trade Union President Bosaikham Vongdala to the new Ministry 
of Energy and Mines; Sommath Pholsena to Ministry of 
Communications, Transport, Posts and Construction; Sitaheng 
Ratsaphorn to Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; and 
Deputy Bank of Lao Governor Phouphet Khamphouvong to become 
Governor of the Bank. Other ministries (Defense, Public 
Security, Health, Finance, Information and Culture) will 
retain their current ministers. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: First, the bad news: none of the changes to 
the government or cabinet line-up signal a departure from 
Party policy. The new line-up will be expected to carry out 
the Party's directives, established at the 8th Party Congress 
in March. New PM Bouasone made it clear in his acceptance 
speech, in fact, that the responsibility of his new team 
would be to ensure that the 8th Party Congress's directives 
were translated into action; poverty reduction remains the 
government's mantra. 
 
¶9. (C) But there is good news here as well. Personality-wise, 
the new cabinet is a significant improvement over its 
predecessor. No one will miss PM Bounnyang, for example, who 
by all accounts was largely ineffectual as PM, and in fact 
had been little more than a figurehead for several years 
while Deputy PM Bouasone ran the show. FM Somsavat is another 
we are glad to see moving on. He took insincerity to new 
heights, and his personal animosity against the U.S. explains 
much of our challenges in the relationship over the past two 
years. We enjoy a good relationship with his successor 
Thongloun, and hope the change will help the bilateral 
relationship. Others like Soulivong Daravong, Somkot 
Mangnomek, Sommath Pholsena and Nam Viyaket are technocrats 
more than Party animals and we expect will bring higher 
professional standards to their jobs. 
 
¶10. (U) We will provide biographies of the new cabinet and a 
more detailed assessment of its makeup via septel. End 
comment. 
 
BAUER