Special announcement of the Party Central Committee

The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee, National Assembly, Government, Lao Front for National Development and Phomvihane family issued an announcement to compatriots, officials, members of the Party, armed forces across the country and friends, both near and far, that Mr Xaysomphone Phomvihane, a member of the Politburo of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR, died on Saturday at the age of 70.
Mr Xaysomphone passed away at 11.18 am on August 8 due to a severe inflammatory vascular disease, the announcement said.
His death was described as an immense loss for the Party, the State and the Lao people of all ethnic groups.
The announcement, issued jointly by the Party Central Committee, National Assembly, Government, Lao Front for National Development and Phomvihane family, described Mr Xaysomphone as a core leader of the Party Central Committee and an experienced and capable leader who held leadership positions at the local level and across various sectors.
Throughout his life, he dedicated his intellect and energy to the revolutionary cause of the Party, national development, and the well-being of the Lao people of all ethnic groups, the announcement said.
A nationwide mourning period will be observed for five days from August 8 to August 12.
The mourning will take place at the National Convention Hall, while the cremation ceremony will be held at That Luang Esplanade on August 12, starting at 1 pm, according to the announcement.
Long career in public service
Mr Xaysomphone was born on December 12, 1956, in Ban Nameo, Viengxay district, Huaphan province. He was the son of President Kaysone Phomvihane and Mrs Thongvin Phomvihane and came from a family of revolutionary cadres.
From the age of six, he left his family to pursue his education in Vietnam and China. From 1962 to 1970, he studied at Bac Giang School in Vietnam and Nanning School in China’s Guangxi province, before attending higher secondary school in Ha Bac, Vietnam, from 1970 to 1973.
He subsequently attended military school in Viengxay district from 1974 to 1976, before studying at the State University of Moscow in the Soviet Union from 1977 to 1983.
After completing his studies, Mr Xaysomphone worked as a lecturer at the National Political and Administration Institute in Vientiane from 1983 to 1984.
He then returned to Moscow, where he conducted research and successfully defended a doctoral degree in Political Economy at the State Academy of Social Sciences from 1984 to 1987.
His political and administrative career began in Savannakhet province, where he worked at the Office of the Governor from 1987 to 1989. He subsequently served as the Deputy Governor of Savannakhet and concurrently headed the Department of Commerce and Foreign Economic Relations from 1989 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1993, he served as a member of the Party Central Committee, the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and the Deputy Governor, while also heading the Office of the Governor.
He became the Secretary of the Savannakhet Provincial Party Committee and the Governor from 1993 to 1995.
At the national level, he served as the Minister of Finance from 1995 to 1997, while also serving as a member of the Party Central Committee.
From 1998 to 2001, he was a member of the National Assembly and served as the Minister and Head of Office of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Mr Xaysomphone subsequently took on increasingly senior responsibilities in the National Assembly.
From 2001 to 2006, he served as the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the Vice President of the International Parliamentary Union of the Lao PDR, while from 2006 to 2010 he was the Secretary of the National Assembly Party Committee, a member of the Standing Committee and the Vice President of the National Assembly, and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
From 2011 to 2015, he continued to serve as the Party Committee Secretary, a member of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Vice President of the National Assembly.
In 2016, Mr Xaysomphone became a member of the Politburo of the Party Central Committee.
From June 2016 to 2020, he was a member of the Party Central Committee of the X Party Congress, and the Politburo. He also was a secretary of the Party and President of the Lao Front for National Development, while continuing to serve as a member of the National Assembly’s VIII Legislature.
In January 2021, he was a member of the Party Central Committee of the XI Party Congress and Politburo, a member of the National Assembly’s VIII Legislature and the President of the Lao Front for National Development.
From March 2021 to December 2025, he was a member of the Party Central Committee of the XI Party Congress, and the President of the National Assembly’s IX Legislature, rising to one of the country’s highest state leadership positions. He remained a member of the Party Central Committee and Politburo during this period.
Following the 12th National Party Congress in January 2026, Mr Xaysomphone continued as a member of the Party Central Committee and Politburo.
At the inaugural session of the National Assembly’s 10th Legislature in March 2026, he was elected the President of the National Assembly for a second consecutive legislature, placing him at the head of the country’s highest legislative body at the time of his death.
At this solemn moment of profound sorrow, grief and deepest morning, the entire Party, the State and the armed forces, officials, and people across the country have been urged to turn their sorrow at his death into strength by maintaining unity around the Party Central Committee and continuing to advance the country’s development and reform agenda.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update August 10, 2026)