The Democratic Party was a political party in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

History

The party was established in 1948 by

Kou Voravong Kou Voravong ( lao : ກຸ ວໍຣະວົງ) (6 December 1914 – 18 September 1954) was a Laotian politician. He was part of the anti-Japanese resistance leading group during the Second World War and after then anti-Lao Issara (ລາວອ ...

, and was controlled by the Voravong family, who also paid for the party's newspaper ''Sieng Lao'' (''Voice of Laos'') to be published.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp687–688 It won four of the 39 seats in the 1951 elections. Following Kou Voravong's assassination in 1954, it was reduced to three seats in the 1955 elections.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p137 However, the cabinet was constitutionally required to obtain the support of two-thirds of MPs, and therefore the party held a significant amount of power over the National Progressive Party, which had won 22 seats. It failed to win a seat in the 1958 supplementary elections.

References

Defunct political parties in Laos Political parties established in 1948 1948 establishments in Laos Political parties with year of disestablishment missing {{Laos-stub