Bounnhang Vorachith

Bounnhang Vorachith (Lao: ບຸນຍັງ ວໍລະຈິດ; born 15 August 1937) is a Laotian politician who has been General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (de facto leader) and President of Laos (de jure head of state) since 2016. Previously he served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 2001, as Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006, and as Vice President of Laos from 2006 to 2016.

Boungnang Vorachith joined the Pathet Lao resistance movement in 1951 and worked in the propaganda department of the armed forces in Savannakhet. In 1956, he was transferred to the fighting troops. He studied in Vietnam from 1958 to 1961, then returned to Laos to help prepare for the conquest of Luang Namtha Province. After the victory in Luang Namtha in 1962, he returned to Vietnam and studied at a military college.

In 1964, he returned to Laos and in 1969, became head of the organizing committee of the province Xieng Khuang. In 1972, he became Deputy Commander of the Northern Front in Luang Prabang Province. Here he also joined the coalition in 1974 and became party secretary of the defence forces of the neutral city Luang Prabang. In 1976 he became political leader of the armed forces of the northern half of the country. In 1978, he returned to Vietnam to study political theory. In 1981, he became political leader of the armed forces, and in the same year up to 1991, he also worked as Governor of Savannakhet Province until 1996, when he became Deputy Prime Minister.

Prior to becoming Prime Minister in 2001, he served as Deputy Prime Minister since 1996. In addition, he was from 1996 to 1999 Chairman of the Lao-Vietnamese Cooperation Committee and from 1999 to 2001 Minister of Finance. On 26 March 2001, he was elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Laos. On 8 June 2006, he was followed by the former 1st Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh in the office of Prime Minister. He himself became vice-president of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos on March 8, 2006 and thus deputy to Choummaly Sayasone.

Bounnhang's ties with Vietnam run deep. He underwent military training there and, after taking part in founding the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975, he studied socialist thought there.

He became Vice President on 8 June 2006, when Bouasone Bouphavanh was appointed as Prime Minister. At the 10th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, he was elected to succeed Choummaly Sayasone as General Secretary on 22 January 2016, effectively making him the leader of Laos. Boungnang Vorachith is married to Khammeung Vorachith and father of three sons and two daughters.