Communist Laos allows e-input at National Assembly



Communist Laos on Monday invited the general public for the first time to send their comments by fax, telephone or e-mail to the National Assembly on the government's past performance, Vientiane Radio reported.

Public input was invited at the current session of the National Assembly, which opened Monday, to "promote freedom of expression and democracy," said the state-run radio in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok.

The assembly, Laos' elected legislative body, was scheduled to first review the government's performance over the past year and was to later debate a law on corruption as graft in the one-party state has become a growing problem.

Laos has been ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party since 1975. Elections are held every five years, but only candidates from the ruling communist party and government-approved independents, who were first allowed to run in 2002, are permitted to contest the polls.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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