Turnout: 97.81%
About this election
Laos held elections to its National Assembly on 22 February 2026, choosing 175 deputies — an enlarged chamber, up from 164 at the previous election. The ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) won 169 seats, with the remaining 6 going to approved independents. Reported turnout was 97.81%. As a one-party socialist state, Laos holds elections that are not considered free or fair: there is no organised opposition and no independent civil society, and every candidate must be cleared to stand. The vote renewed the legislature of a system wholly controlled by the LPRP.
Laos has been a one-party socialist republic since 1975, governed without interruption by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. The 2026 election took place against the backdrop of a serious economic crisis: high inflation, a sharply depreciating currency, and a heavy external debt burden, much of it owed to China for large infrastructure projects such as the Laos-China railway. Thongloun Sisoulith was re-elected as the party's General Secretary in early January 2026, consolidating the leadership ahead of the vote.
Deputies are elected for five-year terms from multi-member constituencies using a multiple non-transferable vote. To stand, a candidate must secure the backing of a local authority or of one of the party-aligned mass organisations gathered under the Lao Front for National Development. This screening ensures that the small number of "independents" who win seats are acceptable to the ruling party, and that no genuine opposition appears on the ballot.
With no organised opposition, no free press and no independent civil society, Laotian elections function as an affirmation of LPRP rule rather than as a contest. The handful of independent deputies do not constitute an opposition bloc. International assessments consistently describe the process as neither free nor fair, and the near-universal reported turnout is read as a reflection of the state's mobilising capacity.
The National Assembly is formally the highest organ of state power: it elects the president, approves the government and passes legislation and the budget. In practice it ratifies decisions made by the LPRP's Politburo and Central Committee. Its enlargement to 175 seats reflects administrative and demographic adjustments rather than any change in its subordinate political role.
The election was overshadowed by Laos's economic difficulties. Years of debt-financed infrastructure spending left the country struggling with repayments, while inflation eroded living standards and drove emigration of workers to neighbouring Thailand. Managing the debt burden — and the close economic relationship with China that underpins much of it — is among the central challenges facing the leadership confirmed around the vote.
The result closely mirrored previous elections: in 2021 the LPRP won 158 of the then 164 seats, with independents taking the rest, on a similarly high reported turnout. The 2026 vote continued that pattern of near-total LPRP dominance, the modest changes in seat numbers reflecting the expansion of the chamber rather than any shift in the balance of power.
Landlocked Laos sits at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia and has tied much of its development strategy to China, most visibly through the Laos-China railway and a wider programme of Belt and Road infrastructure. The country has long promoted itself as the "battery of Southeast Asia," exporting hydropower from dams on the Mekong and its tributaries to neighbours such as Thailand. That model has brought revenue but also debt and environmental controversy, and it leaves Laos heavily dependent on its giant northern neighbour.
Power in Laos rests with the LPRP's collective leadership rather than with parliament. Thongloun Sisoulith, re-elected party General Secretary shortly before the vote, anchors a leadership that prizes continuity and stability. The National Assembly elected in 2026 will formally endorse the government and senior office-holders, but the direction of the country continues to be set within the party.
National Election Committee of Laos (results carried by state media).
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.