Laos – 30 April 2011 elections: the truly defeated ones remain the Lao people, always victims of the single-party state

13/05/2011
Press release

Mouvement Lao pour les Droits de l’Homme (MLDH)
Lao Movement for Human Rights
BP 123 - 77206 Torcy Cedex, France - Téléphone/Fax : 33 (0) 1 60 06 57 06
e-mail : mldh@mldh-lao.org - website : http://www.mldh-lao.org

Press release

Paris, 10 May 2011

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) announced yesterday the results of the legislative elections of April 30, 2011, by underlining the success and {'the joyful atmosphere}'' of these elections, proclaiming '{the democratic rights of the Lao multi-ethnic people}'', '' {in exercising their political rights}'', , while the international press qualified these elections aspure rubber stamp’’ ’, ’’a recording room ’’ in a country where the opposition is not tolerated and peaceful demonstrations in favour of human rights each time severely repressed.

The official press stated that 99,6% of the population participated at these mandatory votes (3.23 million out of 3.24 million registered voters).

The great losers of these elections remain Liberty, Democracy and the Lao citizens. A people under the control of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), a people hostage of this single-state party, a people that can choose only on a list pre-established by the party. The ’’independent’’ candidates must also have the approval of the party.

According to an Australian academician expert on Laos ’’ The National Assembly is just a rubber stamp and will continue to be one as long as Laos is a single-party authoritarian state", "Everything it decides on has already been determined by the party hierarchy ... What is debated is again determined by the party.’’

As for the seats distribution, 4 out of 132 are not representatives of the LPRP. Women have not increased in number (25%). Among 38,6% issued from the ethnic minorities (51), 9% are Khmu (12) and only 5,3 are Hmong (7).

Faced with this pretence of an election, the only goal of which was to enable the totalitarian regime to boast about its legitimacy to the donors and the international community, the Lao Movement for Human Rights solemnly demands that the Lao authorities give the power back to the people, so that it can choose its leaders freely, in accordance with a multiparty system.

The Lao Movement for Human Rights strongly reiterates to the international community - the European Union and its State Members, the UN and the United States notably - asking it to make the LPDR government conform itself to the resolutions of the European Parliament of 1 December 2005 and 26 November 2009, which required the Lao authorities to " draw up and implement as soon as possible all the necessary reforms required to democratize the country, guarantee the peaceful expression of political opposition and ensure a speedy holding of multiparty elections under international monitoring with a view to national reconciliation".

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