Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Does Laos have a president?
The current president is Bounnhang Vorachit, since 20 April 2016. He is also the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, making him ranked first in the Politburo hierarchy.
The ULDL and its President Bounthanh Rathigna have provided information to and urged the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to investigate ongoing religious persecution and religious freedom violations in Laos and to officially designated Laos as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In 2003, Laotian- and Hmong-Americans lauded the USCIRF's efforts in officially designating Laos as a CPC violator of international norms of religious freedom for its persecution of independent and dissident Lao and Hmong Christians, Catholic, Animist and Buddhist religious believers.
The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Saeima. 
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Latvia as "flawed democracy" in 2017.
There are over 90 distinct native languages spoken by the different ethnic populations of Laos. Lao, the official language of Laos, is a monosyllabic tone based language from the Tai-Kadai family as spoken in Vientiane. There are 19 million Lao speakers in Thailand and 3 million in Laos, a reflection of geopolitical history. Lao can be further divided according to regional dialects including Vientiane, northern, northeastern, central and southern. Northern dialects are spoken in Sainyabuli, Bokeo, Phongsali, Luang Nam Tha, Udomxai, and Luang Prabang. Northeastern Lao is spoken mainly in Xiang Khoang and Houa Phan. Central Lao is found in Khammuan and Bolikhamsai. The Southern dialect is used in Champasak, Salavan, Savannakhet, Attapeu, and Sekong.
As part of the Tai-Kadai language family spoken Thai is similar to Lao, with some distinctions. Lao has six tones, whereas Bangkok Thai has five, the standard lexicon, grammar, usage and pronunciations are also different. The two languages are not mutually intelligible, although Lao speakers tend to have an easier time understanding Thai because of the prevalence of Thai radio and media in and around Laos.
The boundaries of Lao dialects also extend into the North-East of Thailand, known as Isan, but the Lao spoken in Thailand as a whole can be differentiated by adoption of much Thai vocabulary and code-switching. The language is not taught or used in schools, government, and most media outlets. Thaification policies removed the alphabet and now the language is written in the Thai alphabet, if at all, and the name changed to Isan to sever the political connection with Laos. Despite this, the Lao language is spoken by 20 million people, almost a third of the population of Thailand, and is the primary language of 88% of Isan households. It continues to serve as an important regional language and a badge of Isan (hence Lao) identity, but it is experiencing a decline in the advance of Thai
Lebanon operates under a strong semi-presidential system. This system is unique in that it grants the president wide unilateral discretion, does not make him accountable to Parliament (unless for treason), yet is elected by the Parliament. The President has the sole power to appoint the Prime Minister, and may dismiss him whenever he wishes (without input from the Chamber of Deputies, which can also force him to resign). In addition, he has the sole authority to form a government (which must then receive a vote-of-confidence from Parliament) and dismiss it when he wishes. This thus makes Lebanon a president-parliamentary system rather than a premier-presidential system (such as France), as the President does not have to cohabitate with a Prime Minister he dislikes.
The historical reason for the broad powers of the President are that his powers were merged with those of the French High Commissioner of Greater Lebanon, thus creating an exceptionally powerful presidency for semi-presidential systems.
, Laos has an estimated population of 6.5 million. The Lao government recognizes 47 distinct ethnicities, which are further sub-divided into 149 subgroups. Lao society is traditionally categorized into three broad groups based on ethnicity and location. Approximately 50% of the total population is ethnic Lao (Lao Loum or Lao Tai); 10% are categorized as Lao Theung or “upland Lao” who are predominantly people of Mon or Khmer ancestry; another 34% are Lao Sung or “mountain Lao,” and are also commonly referred to as “hill tribes.” Hill tribe peoples in Laos include the Hmong, Yao (Mien), Akha, and Lahu. Laos is also home to sizeable communities of Vietnamese and Chinese who make up the 6% remaining.
Anthropologists consider the Lao Loum as a subcategory of the wider “Tai” ethnic group who share common genetic, linguistic, and cultural heritage. The Tai family includes the Lao and Thai, as well as smaller groups which have generally been distinguished by their traditional dress and include the Tai Dam (Black Tai), Tai Daeng (Red Tai), and Tai Khao (White Tai). The Laos to define both the ethnicity and nationality. Further complication is added by the geopolitical history between Laos and Thailand, there are an estimated 19 million “Lao” speakers living in northeastern Thailand (Thai Isan or Lao Tai) and only 3 million in Laos. As a consequence identity politics has played a major role in the defining the Lao Loum. The Lao government makes no distinction between the bordering groups and views them as sharing a common identity, but the government of Thailand has through a process known as “Thaification” assimilated the Lao living in Isan. The Lao Loum define themselves based on location, agricultural practice, language and religion. The Lao Loum occupy the Mekong River valleys and cultivate wet rice crops, they are predominantly Theravada Buddhist but have strong syncretism with traditional animist beliefs.
Lao Theung are culturally distinct from both the Lao Loum and Lao Sung. The Lao Theung generally include Mon-Khmer peoples which are among the indigenous peoples from the Mekong River valleys. The largest single group (11% or 500,000 people) is Khmu (Khmou, Kmhmu, Khammu, Khamu, Kammu). Also included in the Lao Theung population are Katang, Bru, Kui, Laven, Mal, Phai, Katu, Lave, Ngae, Jeh, Khuen, Jeng, Alak, Ir, Kasseng, Khlor, Aheu, Bo, Halang, Doan, Hung, Xinh Mul, Khua, Arem, Bit, Chut, Maleng and Mlabri. The Lao Theung peoples are distinguished by dry rice cultivation, and animist beliefs.
The President of the Republic of Singapore is the country's head of state. Singapore has a parliamentary system of government. Executive authority is exercised by the Cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Singapore. The current president is Halimah Yacob, who was elected unopposed at the 2017 presidential election. She is the first female President of Singapore and first Malay head of state in 47 years since the death of Yusof Bin Ishak, Singapore's first president.
In June 1958, the "Committee for the Defense of National Interests" was created in Vientiane. Its program was the eviction of communist ministers of the "Lao Neo Hak Sat" party (ແນວລາວຮັກຊາດ), and the overthrow of the neutralist Government, in order to maintain Laos in the United States orbit. This civic association of young Laotians, anti-communist and renovator, was led by the army strongman, the general Phoumi Nosavan. Born in the Thai-Lao region border (Moukdahane-Savannakhet), he was the nephew of Sarit Thanarat (thai: สฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์) – the current Thai Government Prime minister – and first of all, the general Phoumi Nosavan was Kou Voravong's cousin and brother-in-law.
Starting from 1959 and during six years, with the financial support of the CIA, the general Phoumi Nosavan became the dominant figure in the Laotian political life. At the height of his career in May 1960, thanks to his relationship with Sarit Thanarat – the current Thai Prime Minister – and in association with Ou and Bounthong Voravong, he commissioned and financed a life-size statue of Kou Voravong at the Department of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Thailand. In Savannakhet, a "Kou Voravong Stadium" was built at the extreme north of the avenue of the same name, and the site of the statue was planned on an esplanade just at the entrance.
Gay foreigners visiting Laos in the 1990s sometimes reported the existence of a taboo associated with foreigners, that made it hard to interact with Laos, except discreetly at night. Today, the government does block access to LGBT themed webpages and discussions about LGBT issues in the media are rare, beyond transsexuals who are quite visible in the culture as entertainment. However, the government generally tolerates, or simply ignores, LGBT people unless they campaign for LGBT rights or judged by the government to be too publicly immodest or indecent. Tolerance for LGBT people is, as is often the case, stronger in the urban cities than in the rural neighborhoods.
The Government of Laos does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however it is making significant efforts to do so. The government increased law enforcement efforts to investigate trafficking offenses and prosecute and punish trafficking offenders. It also increased collaboration with international organizations and civil society to provide training for government and law enforcement officials, to provide repatriation and reintegration services for victims, and to launch public awareness campaigns to combat trafficking. A severe lack of resources remains the biggest impediment to the government’s ability to combat trafficking in persons and it remains dependent on the international donor community to fund anti-trafficking activities.
President of the Republic: Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo
The President of the People's Republic of China is the head of state of the People's Republic of China. Under the country's constitution, the presidency is a largely ceremonial office with limited powers. However, since 1993, as a matter of convention, the presidency has been held simultaneously by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the top leader in the one party system. The office is officially regarded as an institution of the state rather than an administrative post; theoretically, the President serves at the pleasure of the National People's Congress, the legislature, and is not legally vested to take executive action on its own prerogative. The current President is Xi Jinping, who took office in March 2013.
The President of Honduras () officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: "Presidente de la República de Honduras"), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. According to the 1982 Constitution of Honduras, the Government of Honduras consists of three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The President is the head of the Executive branch, their primary duty being to "Execute and enforce the Constitution, treaties and conventions, laws and other legal dispositions." The President is directly elected for a four year term.
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. Since 1996, the President is directly elected by plurality voting to a four-year term, with at most one re-election. The incumbent, Tsai Ing-Wen, succeeded Ma Ying-jeou on 20 May 2016 as the first female president in the nation's history. Originally established in Nanking in 1912, the Republic of China and its president relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War.
The President of the Senate is created under Article 56 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The office is similar to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat: the president is elected by the members of the Senate and is expected to be politically impartial. If a member of the Dewan Negara is elected as the president and is a member of a state legislative assembly, he must resign from the assembly before exercising the functions of the office. As the president may hold different titles while in office, it also changes the style. The current president is Datuk SA. Vigneswaran. Therefore, while in session, the senators will call him as 'Datuk Yang di-Pertua' (Datuk President) or 'Tuan Yang di-Pertua' (Mr. President).
The eighth and current president, Halimah Yacob, took office on 14 September 2017, becoming the first president elected as she was the sole eligible candidate under the new reform terms which took effect earlier that year. She is also the first female President of Singapore.
The current president is José Manuel Constantino, who was elected in 2013. Former president Fernando Lima Bello is the current Portuguese delegate at the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Since its independence in 1959, Singapore has transformed from a relatively underdeveloped and impoverished agrarian society into one of Asia's wealthiest nations, a center of international banking, business and shipping. Singapore has thus been dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Lee Kuan Yew and his administration wielded absolute reign over Singaporean politics until 1990, while his People's Action Party has remained in power ever since, controlling Singapore as a dominant-party state. Lee is therefore often called a 'benevolent dictator.' As a leader who was in power for thirty-one years from 1959 until 1990, he implemented some laws that were deemed to be autocratic, and attempted to dismantle political opposition. Despite this, he is reportedly often looked upon favorably by Singaporeans for his transformation of Singapore. Peter Popham of The Independent called Lee "one of the most successful political pragmatists".
Permission to return to Savannakhet was issued in early 1994 by the Government of Laos. After another year of waiting in the Vat Xayaphoum Temple in Savannakhet, the statue was ceremoniously erected on Saturday, January 7, 1995 by the family and officials, on the private land adjacent to the family residence. On this occasion, a host temple for monks and travelers (ກຸຕິ) was built and offered to the Vat Xayaphoum Temple by the family of Nang Somnuk (married Simukda – ນາງສົມນຶກ ສີມຸກດາ) – one of Kou Voravong's three half-sisters – in association with Thao Anouroth, the youngest son.
The President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is the head of state of Laos.
In recent decades women have made notable inroads into politics. In 1997, Onechanh Thammavong became one of the vice-presidents of the National Assembly of Laos. In March 2011, the National Assembly provided a seminar for forty-seven female candidates in advance of the 7th Lao general elections in April 2011, in order to instil the “significant duties of the national legislature body” in the women.
Since establishment of bilateral ties there has been numerous high level bilateral visits between India and Laos. Recent visit was by Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari in September 2015 where he signed 5 "quick impact projects". Then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Laos in 2004 for 10th ASEAN Summit where he met Laos PM Bounhang Vorachit, agreements regarding 3rd India-ASEAN summit were signed between them. Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpeyee visited Laos in 2002. Indian President Pratibha Patil visited Laos in 2010. High level visits from Laos to India were, Prince Souphanouvong, who was the first President of Laos, visited India in 1975. In recent times Laos PM Choummaly Sayasone visited India in 2008. There are several other foreign minister and secretary level visits from each country to other.
Vice President of Laos is the political position in Laos created in 1996. The Vice President is elected by the National Assembly of Laos.