Country Gees

Yearbook 2006

Laos. According to CountryAAH, major public holidays in Laos include Independence Day (May 11) and New Year (January 1). A number of personal transfers were made in L’s political leadership during the year, but these were not expected to bring about any changes in the Communist-controlled country’s political course. When elections were held for the National Assembly on April 30, the Communist Party took home 113 of the 115 seats. The remaining two seats were won by independent, pre-approved candidates. When the National Assembly in June appointed a new Laotian president, the election awaited the Secretary-General of the Communist Party, Vice President Choummaly Sayasone, 70, who was close to former President Khamtay Siphandone, 82, close. The new Prime Minister of the country was elected as tipped Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. The new government he formed had as its primary objective to fight the corruption that characterizes society and to ensure that the good economic development in the country continues.

In March, it was found that a new species of rodent, which scientists discovered in a market in L. 2005, was a waste of a mammal previously believed to be extinct. The survivor, christened Laonaste’s monogamous mouse, showed great resemblance to a rodent family that until now is believed to have been extirpated about eleven million years ago. The discovery attracted considerable attention in scientific circles.

Laos received continued international criticism for his way of treating the minority people, among whom a small-scale armed guerrilla resistance has been fought against the communists since the 1970s. In March, information came out that 26 women and children from Hmong would have been killed in a massacre by government soldiers.

Economy