Laos in 1991: Year of the Constitution

Abstract

The Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1991 was buffeted by the shock waves resulting from the great crisis in the international communist movement. Nevertheless, its basic strategy of the last six years remained unaltered: embrace liberal market economics but preserve the Lao People's Revolutionary Party's (LPRP) monopoly of political power. Laos made it plain in pursuing this course that although it still made obeisance to Marxism-Leninism, building socialism had become only a remote and theoretical goal. The LPRP, which held its Fifth Congress in March, also moved to renovate its own and the Laos state structures to make both more efficient and reduce their drag on economic growth. Laos expanded its relations with the countries of the world, but its poverty, remoteness, and the increasing anomalousness of its regime make it difficult to attract the level of foreign assistance and investment necessary for sustained economic growth.