At stake in this election:

• 109 seats in the National Assembly (Sapha Heng Xat)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Khamtai SIPHANDON
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Bounnhang VORACHITH **
• Assembly: Laos has a unicameral National Assembly (Sapha Heng Xat) with 109 seats.

** The Prime Minister is nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is nominated by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Sapha Heng Xat) 109 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** The total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2006 election.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) / Pug Pasason Patiwat Lao
  • Leader: Khamtai SIPHANDON
  • Seats won in this election: 109
• Independent(s): Independents**
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 0

** There was only one independent candidate in this years' election.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,502,340 (2002)
• Registered Voters: 2,545,838 (February 2002)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,770,271 (2002)

·         Is Laos a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Laos ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 August 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 25 (following the 2002 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 141 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Laos a signatory to CRPD: Yes (15 January 2008)

·         Has Laos ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 825,351 (est.)