Who runs local government in Laos?
Laos is a one-party state led by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and local administration is an arm of central government. A 2025 constitutional reform replaced individual governors and district chiefs with administrative committees, created a new sub-district level (taseng), and redefined villages as community organisations rather than a level of the state. Villages, long the only level where heads were chosen by local vote, are now in transition.
Lao People's Democratic Republic · Unitary one-party socialist republic · South-eastern Asia
The levels of government below the nation
| Level | How it is chosen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Provinces (17) and Vientiane Capital | Provincial administrative committee with a chairperson (formerly the governor, who was nominated by the President); provincial People's Assembly elected with the National Assembly | Runs political, economic and social affairs and natural resources in the province. |
| Districts (148 in 2021) | District administrative committee (formerly district chiefs nominated by the Prime Minister on the governor's advice) | Planning and budgeting unit for local services. |
| Sub-districts (taseng), new from 2025; 379 of 621 planned set up by mid-2026 | Appointed administrative committee (chairperson, vice-chairs, members); staff transferred from districts, security forces and villages | Now the lowest level of state administration and a separate budget unit; oversees village development plans. |
| Villages (ban, about 8,500) | Village heads (nai ban); some directly elected by villagers since 2011 under the old system | Recognised since 2025 as community organisations focused on cohesion, security, culture and ethnic traditions. |
Three questions about local power in Laos
Are local leaders elected?
Provincial People's Assembly members are elected at the same time as the National Assembly, from candidates approved through the Party and the Lao Front. Administrative committees are appointed. Village heads were the only local leaders directly elected by residents; how they will be chosen under the 2025 law was not clear from the sources available.
Which laws set up local government?
All tiers are set out in the 2025 Constitution and the amended Local Administration Law (2025). Customary elders and religious figures work through custom only.
Who are local leaders accountable to?
Administrative committees answer to the Government and to their local People's Assembly. The Party's organisation committee manages the reform and appointments. There is no competitive party politics at any level.
Traditional and customary authority
Laos has around 50 officially recognised ethnic groups, and in many villages elders, clan heads and spirit or ritual specialists still guide marriage, land use and dispute settlement. Buddhist temples and monks are central to lowland Lao village life. None of these has formal power: religious organisations are supervised by the state and the Lao Front for National Construction, and customary land use is only partly recognised in land law.
Community and neighbourhood power
Mass organisations named in the Constitution, such as the Lao Front for National Construction, the Lao Women's Union and the Youth Union, have branches in villages and help mobilise residents. The 2025 Constitution gives mass organisations the right to monitor local People's Assemblies. Villages also run village mediation units for minor disputes.
Points to know
- The sub-district (taseng) existed after 1975 but was abolished by the 1991 Constitution; the 2025 reform brought it back.
- The 2025 Constitution was enacted by Presidential Decree No. 037/P on 22 March 2025.
- Urban districts had struggled to manage more than 100 villages each, which was one reason for creating sub-districts.
- Earlier reforms called provinces 'strategic units', districts 'planning and budgeting units' and villages 'implementation units'.
Local terms
- Taseng
- Sub-district, reintroduced in 2025 as the lowest level of state administration.
- Ban
- Village; since 2025 a community organisation rather than an administrative level.
- Lao Front for National Construction
- The Party-led umbrella body for mass organisations, religions and ethnic groups.
Sources
- Constitution of Lao PDR 1991 (rev. 2025) (English text), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
- Country profile: Lao PDR, OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
- 2025 Constitution Officially Promulgated (28 March 2025), Lao News Agency (KPL), state news agency, checked 14 October 2026
- Laos Establishes 379 Sub-districts Under Local Governance Reform (4 July 2026), Lao News Agency (KPL), state news agency, checked 14 October 2026
- Constitutional Amendments in Lao PDR: Strengthening Local Governance (Kazuo Fukuda, 4 February 2026), ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, checked 14 October 2026
See also: Laos's official statistics and leaders · the 10 levels of power.