Nation’s leaders mourn, farewell General Sisavath Keobounphanh

Party and state leaders, former leaders, ministers, governors, army personnel, members of the police force and the general public on Saturday gathered to pay tribute at the cremation of General Sisavath Keobounphanh.
General Sisavath died at 7 am on May 12, aged 92, after a long illness.
The leadership of the Party and State led by Party Secretary General and President of Laos, Bounnhang Vorachit; Politburo Member and National Assembly President, Mrs Pany Yathotou, and Politburo Member and Prime Minister of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith joined the mourning and bid farewell to General Sisavath Keobounphanh.

Party and state leaders and former leaders arrived at the cremation site on the That Luang esplanade at 12:30.
The vehicle carrying the general’s body moved from the Meeting Hall of the General Political Department, Ministry of National Defence, to the cremation site at That Luang at 12:50, following traditional funerary rites.
The accompanying procession arrived at the flagpole in front of the National Assembly at 13:00 and then proceeded to the cremation ceremony.
General Sisavath Keobounphanh served on the Party Central Committee during periods I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, was Party Central Committee Secretary during periods III and IV, and a Politburo member during periods IV, VI, VII and VIII.
He also formerly served as the nation’s Prime Minister, Vice President, President of the Lao Front for National Development, Chief of General Staff of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Army, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, Minister of Public Security, Party Committee Secretary, Chairman of the Vientiane Administration Committee, and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
He was also the Chairman of the Campaign Committee to set up the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Union.
General Sisivath was born on May 1, 1928, in Houay Kaluen village, Viengxay district, Huaphan province, and was the son of Mr Bounsou and Mrs Ban.  He married La Keobounphanh and they had four daughters, all of whom now live in Nongbone village, Xaysettha district, Vientiane.
General Sisivath was orphaned when his parents died in his youth. He grew up at a time when the people of Laos were subjugated by the harsh rule of colonial powers and their minions.
This stirred a sense of patriotism in him, along with anger towards the country’s colonial masters, and he sought to achieve freedom and justice for Laos. As a young man, he became an active participant in the people’s struggle against foreign domination.
On April 15, 1947, he joined the revolutionary movement and the same year, at the age of 19, he joined the Issara Force. He became a member of the Indochinese Communist Party on May 1, 1950.
General Sisivath’s key roles in the revolutionary movement were as follows:
- 1947-1948 Soldier in a military unit for the armed forces campaign in the north.
- 1948-1949 Campaign official for the construction of secret bases in northern Laos.
- 1950 Member of the Communist Party of Indochina.
- 1949-1952 Chief of the political division of the Latsavong military unit.
- 1952-1954 Chief of the military division of the Latsavong unit and deputy chief of the mixed Laos-Vietnam battalion which liberated Hiem district, Paklao, Bansae and Bansone and created a stronghold in northern Laos.
-  1954-1955 Nationwide ceasefire commissioner between the three Indochinese nations and the French.
- On May 22, 1955, the day of the Party’s establishment and the first Party Congress, he was elected to the first Party Central Executive Committee of the Lao People’s Party. In the same year he was elected to the military Party Committee and appointed as a deputy commander-in-chief of the Lao People’s Liberation Army.
- 1956-1960 appointed secretary of the Party Committee and was a military commander of the gathering area in Xamneua, where he presided over the election of a revolutionary delegation, and was appointed commander of the liberation of Huaphan province for the second time, and commander of the liberation of the Plain of Jars.
- 1962 Led the battle to liberate Luang Namtha.
- 1960-1976 appointed commander-in-chief of the Lao People’s Liberation Army.
- 1972 At the second Party Congress he was elected to the first Party Central Executive Committee during its second period.
- 1976-1980 Commander-in-chief of the Lao People’s Liberation Army, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, and Chairman of the Vientiane Municipality Administration Committee.
 - 1982 At the third Party Congress he was elected to the first Party Central Executive Committee during its third period, and was Party Central Committee Secretary, commander-in-chief, Minister of National Defence, Secretary of the Party Committee, and Chairman of the Vientiane Municipality Administration Committee.
- 1982 Appointed head of the body responsible for arranging the first Lao Youth Congress.
- 1983 The Party Central Committee and government agreed to award him the rank of General.
- 1983-1984 Studied advanced political theory in Hanoi, Vietnam.
- 1985 Appointed Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Vientiane Municipality Administration Committee.
- 1986 At the fourth Party Congress, he was elected a member of the Party Central Committee, a Politburo member and Party Central Secretary, Secretary of the Party Committee, and Chairman of the Vientiane Municipality Administration Committee.
- 1987-1988 Headed the ceasefire agreement with Thailand.
- 1991 At the fifth Party Congress, he was elected to the Party Central Committee and was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
- 1996- At the sixth Party Congress he was elected a Politburo member.
- 1996-1998 Elected Vice President of Laos.
- 1998-2001 Elected Prime Minister of Laos.
-  2002-2010 At the seventh Party Congress, he was elected as a member of the Party Central Committee, a Politburo member, and President of the Lao Front for National Development.
- 2011 Retired due to poor health.
The Party and State have awarded him the following medals:
- One National Gold Order
- One Vietnamese National Gold Order
 - Four Class 1 Issara Orders
- Two Class 2 Issara Orders, and other medals.

By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
(Latest Update May 18, 2020)