CHAPTER V
THE PRESIDENT OF STATE

Article 52. The President of state is the Head of state of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the representative of the multi-ethnic Lao people both at home and abroad.

Article 53. The President of state has the following rights and duties
1. To promulgate the Constitution and laws already endorsed by the National Assembly;
2. To issue state decrees and state acts on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee;
3. To appoint or remove the Prime Minister and the members of the government with the approval or resolution of no confidence of the National Assembly; 4. To appoint, transfer or remove the governors of provinces and the mayors of municipalities on the recommendation of the Prime Minister;
5. To decide to promote or demote the ranks of the Generals in the national defence and security forces on the recommendation of the Prime Minister;
6. To be the Head of the people's armed forces;
7. To preside over a meeting of the government when necessary;
8. To decide on the conferment of the national gold medals, orders of Merit, medals of victory and highest honorific titles of the state;
9. To decide on granting pardons;
10. To decide on general or partial military conscription and to declare the state of emergency all over the country or in any particular locality;
11. To declare on the ratification or abolition of all treaties and agreements signed with foreign countries;
12. To appoint and recall plenipotentiary representatives of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to or from foreign countries, and accept the plenipotentiary representatives of foreign countries accredited to the Lao People's Democratic Republic;
13. To exercise other rights and execute other duties as stipulated in the laws.

Article 54. The President of state is elected by the National Assembly with two-thirds of the votes of all members of the National Assembly attending the session. The term of office of the President of state is five years.

Article 55. The President of state may have a Vice-President as an assistant to act on behalf of the President during his absence. The Vice-President of state is elected by the National Assembly with the votes of more than one-half of the total number of the National Assembly members attending the session.

http://www.laoembassy.com/news/constitution/body.htm






BruceLao4LIfe wrote:

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Does Laos set a term limit for its president to serve in the office? I know China, after the death of Deng Xiaoping, has a five-year term limit for its president and if the country makes progress, he or she can serve the second-five year term provided that the president has not turned (74?) during the first term.

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