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Although Cuba is in form a parliamentary democracy, there has not been an election since 1948 in which opposition candidates were allowed. 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 Fidel Castro, who established a communist regime. The Communist Party of Cuba is the only legal party, and no overt opposition to its rule is tolerated. The only legal way of citizens to oppose the ruling system, is to spoil a ballot or to vote no at a candidate, although few dare to do so for fear of official reprisal.
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 on 19 January 2003. All the 609 candidates who ran uncontested for the National Assembly were elected.
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' popularity, merit, patriotism, ethical values and revolutionary history.
Since the electoral system does not allow oppositional candidates, these elections cannot be considered free and fair elections, in which voters had a choice of candidates from various political orientation. The majority of Deputies belong to the Communist Party. The remainder are officially independent candidates, however they must be acceptable to the Communist Party and are widely regarded outside Cuba as a device for maintaining a facade of democracy (see National Front (Czechoslovakia) for a comparable example).
Suffrage is afforded to Cuban citizens resident for two years 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 officially non-partisan, but 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 last such elections were held on 17 April, 2005. Turnout 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 had voted.
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