Brother Act

Those who hold that politics in Laos is already complicated enough had to resign themselves to a new surprise last week. To the world at large, it seemed that courtly Kou Abhay, 67, was the new Premier of the kingdom of Laos. But the man who was really running things was Kou's younger brother.

Laotians had known all along that it would be that way. After all, Kou had always done things together with his brother Nhouy, who is 16 years younger. Kou, whom Laotians call "the personification of wisdom," plodded his way through a technical education in France, eventually became president of the Laotian Royal Council. Brother Nhouy, whom Laotians call "the quintessence of culture," an honors graduate from the Sorbonne, was the more worldly and efficient one. While gentle Kou kept to his high-collared tunics and the quiet ways of an old-school nobleman, Nhouy cultivated a taste for wine, women and gambling, and turned out some of the country's most highly polished poetry.

When King Savang Vatthana, to solve a Cabinet crisis fortnight ago, picked old-time Courtier Kou to take over as Premier, Kou instinctively turned for help to his younger brother. He appointed Nhouy his Vice Premier, then made the remarkable announcement that the younger man would do most of the governing. The two brothers last week sat silently together on the embankment of the serpentine Mekong River, their chins resting on their canes, awaiting the fiery sunset. Finally the younger brother spoke: "I wish fervently that the future may give us peace, that we can always remain a placid people." The older brother nodded and continued to watch in silence as the sun slowly sank below the jungle horizon.

It was less than a month since a pro-Western military junta had taken over unstable little Laos, only to be dismissed in a hurry when the U.S. and the U.N. decided that despite Communist threats from neighboring North Viet Nam, the world would be safer if Laos stayed neutral (TIME, Jan. 18). What about the army now, someone asked the brothers Abhay. It was the younger brother who answered. "The army must serve," he said grandly. "That is its basic and only role."

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