Balancing Act

Along with other habits picked up from their former French masters, the men who rule Laps seem to like to make frequent and complex changes of government. Last week, nearly a month after Paratroop Captain Kong Le forcibly overthrew a pro-Western Cabinet (TIME, Aug. 22 et seq.), Laos once again had a new government—one so complex that even its members were not sure what its policies were.

To avert a threatened civil war between Kong Le and those who opposed his coup. King Savang Vatthana accepted as his Premier Kong Le's candidate for the job: Neutralist Prince Souvanna Phouma. As his part of the bargain, Prince Souvanna turned around and named as his Interior Minister General Phoumi Nosavan, leader of the anti-Kong Le faction. Everybody seemed relatively happy with the arrangement, at least for the moment.