Bounnhang Vorachit

General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary PartyIn office
22 January 2016 – 15 January 2021DeputyPhankham Viphavan
(Standing Member)Preceded byChoummaly SayasoneSucceeded byThongloun Sisoulith6th President of LaosIn office
20 April 2016 – 22 March 2021Prime MinisterThongloun SisoulithVice PresidentPhankham ViphavanPreceded byChoummaly SayasoneSucceeded byThongloun Sisoulith4th Vice President of LaosIn office
8 June 2006 – 20 April 2016PresidentChoummaly SayasonePreceded byChoummaly SayasoneSucceeded byPhankham Viphavan1st Standing Member of the LPRP SecretariatIn office
8 June 2006 – 21 January 2016General SecretaryChoummaly SayasonePreceded byPost establishedSucceeded byPhankham Viphavanh14th Prime Minister of LaosIn office
27 March 2001 – 8 June 2006PresidentKhamtai SiphandonPreceded bySisavath KeobounphanhSucceeded byBouasone BouphavanhMinister of FinanceIn office
6 August 1999 – 27 March 2001Prime MinisterSisavath KeobounphanhPreceded byKhamphoui KeoboualaphaSucceeded bySoukanh Mahalath Personal detailsBorn (1937-08-15) 15 August 1937 (age 86)
Savannakhet, French Protectorate of LaosPolitical partyLao People's Revolutionary Party (1955–present)SpouseKhammeung VorachitMilitary serviceAllegiance LaosBranch/service LPAFRank Colonel^[1][2]

Bounnhang Vorachit (Lao: ບຸນຍັງ ວໍລະຈິດ; born 15 August 1937)^[3][4][5] is a Laotian politician. He was previously General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President of Laos from 2016 to 2021.

Early life

Bounnhang Vorachit joined the Pathet Lao resistance movement in 1951 and worked in the propaganda department of the armed forces in Savannakhet. In 1956, he was transferred to the fighting troops. He studied in Vietnam from 1958 to 1961, then returned to Laos to help prepare for the conquest of Luang Namtha Province. After the victory in Luang Namtha in 1962, he returned to Vietnam and studied at a military college.^[6]

In 1964, he returned to Laos and in 1969, became head of the organizing committee of the province Xieng Khuang. In 1972, he became Deputy Commander of the Northern Front in Luang Prabang Province. Here he also joined the coalition in 1974 and became party secretary of the defence forces of the neutral city Luang Prabang. In 1976 he became political leader of the armed forces of the northern half of the country. In 1978, he returned to Vietnam to study political theory. In 1981, he became political leader of the armed forces, and in the same year up to 1991, he also worked as Governor of Savannakhet Province until 1996, when he became Deputy Prime Minister.

Political career

Prior to becoming Prime Minister in 2001, he served as Deputy Prime Minister since 1996. In addition, he was from 1996 to 1999 Chairman of the Lao-Vietnamese Cooperation Committee and from 1999 to 2001 Minister of Finance. On 26 March 2001, he was elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Laos. On 8 June 2006, he was followed by the former 1st Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh in the office of Prime Minister. He himself became vice-president of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos on March 8, 2006 and thus deputy to Choummaly Sayasone.

Bounnhang's ties with Vietnam run deep. He underwent military training there and, after taking part in founding the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975, he studied socialist thought there.^[6]

He became Vice President on 8 June 2006, when Bouasone Bouphavanh was appointed as Prime Minister. At the 10th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, he was elected to succeed Choummaly Sayasone as General Secretary on 22 January 2016, effectively making him the leader of Laos.^[7] Bounnhang Vorachit is married to Khammeung Vorachit and is the father of three sons and two daughters. One of his daughters, Bounkham Vorachit, was elected to the 11th LPRP Central Committee.

At the 11th congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (2021), he stepped down as General Secretary in favor of Thongloun Sisoulith.^[8]

References

External links

• Biography courtesy of Burmese Government

Party political offices
Preceded by Choummaly Sayasone	General Secretary of the People's Revolutionary Party 2016–2021	Succeeded by Thongloun Sisoulith
Political offices
Preceded by Sisavath Keobounphanh	Prime Minister of Laos 2001–2006	Succeeded by Bouasone Bouphavanh
Preceded by Choummaly Sayasone	Vice President of Laos 2006–2016	Succeeded by Phankham Viphavan
	President of Laos 2016–2021	Succeeded by Thongloun Sisoulith
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Najib Razak	Chairperson of ASEAN 2016	Succeeded by Rodrigo Duterte