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　　Laos goes to the polls Saturday to elect representatives to its legislative¹ branch, known as the National Assembly. The small, Southeast Asian nation is a one-party communist state and the candidates are determined² by the party.
老挝本周末举行国会选举，而选举结果已几乎可以料定。这个东南亚小国是个一党专制的共产党国家，候选人都是由老挝的共产党任命的。
On paper it is a body of lawmakers chosen by and for the people. But analysts³ say in reality, the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, a communist party, selects the candidates, who serve at its convenience.
老挝人星期六前往投票站选举选区的国会议员。从字面上看，老挝国会是一个来自人民、为了人民的立法结构，但是分析人士说，实际上，执政的共产党--老挝人民革命党挑选的候选人是为该党利益服务的。
Professor Martin Stuart-Fox is a specialist on Laos at the University of Queensland in Australia. He says the communist party controls all elections in Laos.
澳大利亚昆士兰大学的老挝问题专家马丁.斯图尔特-福克斯教授说，老挝共产党控制着该国的所有选举活动。
"Overwhelmingly, the people who stand for the National Assembly elections are members of the party," he says. "A few independents are allowed to stand, but they have been checked out by the party."
他说：“参选国会议员的候选人几乎都是党员。也有几名非党人士获准参选，但他们都经过了党的审查。”
Stuart-Fox says the role of the National Assembly is to lend the party a pretense⁴ of democratic legitimacy⁵. He says its duties are supposed to include passing laws and choosing government leaders.
斯图尔特-福克斯教授说，老挝国会的作用是给老挝的共产党戴上民主合法性的假面具，而老挝国会的职责包括立法与挑选政府领导人。
"But the names and who will serve have already been determined by the party. So, all the assembly does is simply to rubber stamp the decisions that the party has already made."
他说：“老挝人民革命党已经决定了人选以及谁将当选。因此国会仅仅是个橡皮图章，通过共产党做出的决定。”
Nonetheless, Stuart-Fox says the party has allowed a slight improvement in the body’s internal discussions. He says while in the past there was no real debate on issues, the National Assembly now, on occasion, addresses problems such as corruption⁶, a growing concern.
不过，斯图尔特-福克斯说，老挝的共产党开始允许国会内部出现少许改善，有了些许讨论问题的空间。斯图尔特-福克斯说，老挝国会过去对各种议题没有任何实质意义的讨论，不过现在，国会偶而会讨论一些日益引起关注的议题，比如腐败。
"And, this has been debated within the assembly without naming names, and, of course, nothing comes out of it in terms of prosecutions," he says. "But, it does signal the government's disquiet⁷ over the level of corruption."
他说：“国会已经就此展开辩论，但没有提及任何人的名字，也没有拿出如何法办贪腐分子的办法。但这显示出，老挝政府对腐败的程度感到焦虑不安。”
Compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Laos is small, poor, and landlocked, except for the Mekong River, which flows past its capital, Vientiane.
与其他东南亚邻国相比，老挝是个面积又小又贫困的内陆国家，只有一条流经首都万象的湄公河。
But the economy is growing rapidly, mainly from selling natural mineral and hydropower resources.
但老挝经济正在迅速发展，主要依靠出卖自然矿物资源与水利资源。
The influx⁸ of cash, and centralized power, has created opportunities for graft⁹.
现金的涌入与中央集权的权力制造了贪腐机会。
But, ordinary people in Laos are also seeing benefits from increased investment and business, leading few to question the communist party’s legitimacy.
Stuart-Fox says as long as the economy continues to grow the party will take credit for it.
"The problem has been that there has been increasing mal-distribution of wealth. So that most of the wealth that is generated by the improved economy ends up in the Mekong cities and so on. So there is still considerable poverty in the countryside," he says.
“老挝日益严重的问题是财富分配不均。经济改善带来的大多数财富集中在湄公河沿岸城市里，而乡村地区还相当贫穷。”
Laos is a former French colony of about seven million people and has been ruled by the communist party since 1975.
老挝曾经是法国殖民地，有大约700万人口，自1975年以来老挝一直受共产党统治。