Phankham Viphavanh (; born 14 April 1951) is a Laotian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and the

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

of the

Lao People's Revolutionary Party The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the Laos, Lao People's Democratic Republic. The party's monopoly on state power is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Constitution of Laos, and it ...

. He became the Prime Minister of Laos, who was elected by the

National Assembly of Laos The National Assembly (NA; ) or formally the National Assembly of the Lao People's Democratic Republic () is the highest power organisation of Laos. It is the only branch of government in Laos, and per the principle of unified power, all state ...

in March 2021.Nhan Dan
/ref> He was deputy minister in the prime minister's office from 2003 to 2005, then was elected to the eighth Party Central Committee in 2006, and became governor of

Houaphanh province Houaphanh province (, , Romanization of Lao: ''Houaphan'' also ''Huaphan'') is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua. Houaphanh province covers an area of . It is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east, and southeast, Xiangkhoua ...

. He was elected to politburo in 2011, and then held the position of Minister of Education and Sports. He was also the president of the Lao–Vietnam Friendship Association. In 2014, he became the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and in April 2016, he was elected as

Vice President of Laos The vice president of Laos is the political position in Laos created in 1996. The vice president is elected by the National Assembly of Laos. List of vice presidents The history of the office holders follows. Timeline See also * President ...

References