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Laos Holds One-Party Elections VOA News 24 Feb 2002 14:56 UTC 
Voters in Laos have cast ballots in single-party elections to choose a new parliament.
At stake in Sunday's elections were 109 seats in the National Assembly.
Results are not expected for several days because of the difficulty of communications with remote and mountainous areas of the country.
Except for Justice Minister Khamouane Boupha, all of the 166 people who ran belong to the communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party. However, there has been a noted shift to younger, better-educated candidates seen as better able to handle Laos' economic and social problems.
The chairman of the ruling party, Lao President Khamtay Siphandone, has pledged to continue the path to reform opened by the last parliament.
The communist party seized power in 1975 after a long-running civil war with a U.S.-backed government in Vientiane. Mr. Khamtay says he believes the Lao people still have faith and trust in the party.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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