The resounding success of the Lao Patriotic Front and its allies in winning thirteen of the 21 seats changed the political atmosphere in Vientiane.
The LPF and Peace and Neutrality Party carefully worked out a strategy of mutual support, which succeeded in winning nearly two-thirds of the seats with barely one-third of the votes cast.
[3] Washington, which was paying the entire salary cost of the Royal Lao Army, was enthusiastic about the "young Turks" of the CDNI.
This enthusiasm was not altogether shared by United States ambassador Horace H. Smith, who asked what right a group untested by any election had to set its sights on cabinet appointments.
Whereas Souvanna Phouma tried and failed to form a government, creating a drawn-out cabinet crisis, Phoui Sananikone eventually succeeded and included four CDNI members and Phoumi Nosavan in a subcabinet post.