This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 83.108.0.1 (talk) at 14:22, 24 April 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 14:22, 24 April 2006 by 83.108.0.1 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Politics of Cuba |
|---|
 |
| Constitution |
| Communist Party |
National Assembly
|
| Elections and referendums |
| Administrative divisions |
|
Foreign relations
|
| Related topics |
 Cuba portal
|
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In Cuba, the majority of politicians belong to the Communist Party of Cuba and its leader, Fidel Castro, has been in power since 1959. Elections in 1952 were aborted by a coup staged by Fulgencio Batista. Batista was elected President at elections in 1954 which were boycotted by the opposition, and then ruled as a dictator until he was overthrown by Castro.
Cuba has a national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), which has 609 members, replaced every five years through a process of election in which voters in each electoral district are offered only one candidate. This candidate is either a member of, or acceptable to, the Communist Party. The last such elections were held according on 19 January 2003. All the 609 candidates who ran uncontested for the National Assembly were elected. Since the electoral system does not allow oppositional candidates, these elections cannot be considered free and fair elections. According to IPU, the law stipulates that up to 50% of the Deputies must be delegates chosen in each municipality. Parliamentary candidates are otherwise proposed by nominating assemblies which comprise representatives of workers, youth, women, students and farmers as well as members of the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution. The final list of candidates, which corresponds to the number of seats to be filled, is drawn up by the National Candidature Commission taking into account criteria such as candidates' merit, patriotism, ethical values and revolutionary history.
Suffrage is afforded to Cuban citizens resident for two years on the island who are aged over sixteen years and who have not been found guilty of a criminal offence.
Municipal elections
Municipal assemblies are elected every two and a half years. Municipal elections are non-partisan, but it is claimed by some that all candidates must be acceptable to the Communist Party, and no candidate can express overt opposition to the Castro government or to the communist system.
The turnout in the previous municipal elections was reported to be 95.76%. After a massive campaign to get more people to vote, Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo of Cuba's National Electoral Commission reported that approximately 8.2 million Cubans of the country's population of approximately 11 million elected 169 municipal assemblies on Sunday 17 April, 2005.
External links
- Guide to Cuba's Political and Electoral System
- "Cuba says nearly 97 per cent voted in local elections"
- Adam Carr's Election Archive