It is normal for the ruling party to call a congress every five years to pick new decision-makers for its Politburo and Central Committee.

The Laos People's Revolutio-nary Party is expected to bring some new faces into its central committee and to expand numbers and make room for younger well-educated individuals in its inner circle Politburo.

President Khamtay Siphan-done took the helm of the small land-locked state's communist regime in late 1992.

Diplomats in Vientiane say Khamtay is now looking for a successor with the charisma and power to succeed him. The potential candidates remain unclear.

The selection of leaders and members of the inner circle Polit-buro will be conducted behind closed doors. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Somsavad Lengsavat will an-nounce the outcome of the congress next Wednesday, according to an official at the foreign ministry.

The congress will take place in Vientiane. Over a series of closed-door sessions a political report will be drawn up, and this key document will be used to define guidelines for the country's development over the next five years.

The document is expected to secure the continuity of the socialist regime in accordance with the Marxist-Leninist theories it adheres to, as well address the market-oriented economy.

The communist party, which has run the country since 1975, has said it will continue its single-party rule.

, rather than adopting a western pluralist mode of government.

The previous congress five years ago adopted a strategy to shift the country from an agriculture-based economy towards industry and modernisation. It set the target of lifting the country from its undeveloped status by 2020. 

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation