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VIENTIANE, March 8 (Vientiane Times/ANN): A senior official at the National Assembly (NA) is confident that the newly formed legislative body will be stronger than previous ones in representing the people to oversee the work of government and the judiciary.
Standing Member of the NA’s Standing Committee, Dr Somphou Duangsavanh (pic), who is the National Election Committee’s spokesman, made the comment when speaking at a press conference on Friday to announce the results of the election of members to the National Assembly’s ninth legislature, and the second legislature of Provincial People’s Councils.
“I am confident that the National Assembly’s ninth legislature will be successful in fulfilling its prescribed role and duties, opening a new page in driving forward the country’s development, ” he said.
A total of 164 candidates were elected as members of the NA’s ninth legislature, of whom 36 are women.
Of these, 64 (including 11 women) hold positions with central level government bodies, 100 (including 25 women) represent the provinces.
Of the 164 elected, 42 were members of the previous legislature, three work for state-owned enterprises, while six work in the private sector or are engaged in business.
Seventy-five members, who comprise almost half of the total membership, are aged 46-55, while 59 members are aged 56 to 60.
Another 49 members are under the age of 46, while the remaining 11 are older than 60.
Most of the candidates completed upper secondary school, with only three ending their studies after finishing lower secondary school.
Seventy-seven members have a Master’s degree, 36 have a bachelor degree, 31 have a doctorate, and the rest have a diploma or higher diploma.
With regard to ethnicity, 135 members belong to the Lao-Tai language group, 21 are Mone-Khmer, six are Hmong-Ioumien, and two belong to the Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group.
Dr Somphou said the election achieved the target to create a new National Assembly whose members have a wide range of ages, education, qualifications, background, and ethnicity.
“Now that their membership has been approved, Assembly members and the members of Provincial People’s Councils are obliged to fulfil their rights, role and duty to strengthen the capacity of the Assembly and councils by applying their knowledge and qualifications, ” the National Election Committee spokesman said.
Laos has a population of about 7.1 million, of whom about 4 million people are eligible to vote.
According to the National Election Committee, 98 percent of voters went to polling stations on election day.
As the largest constituency in terms of population, Savannakhet province has 20 representatives in the National Assembly, while Vientiane has 18 members and Champassak province is represented by 15 members of National Assembly.
There are 492 members in the second legislature of Provincial People’s Councils, 150 of whom are women. - Vientiane Times/ANN
