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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. Cuba is a totalitarian state controlled by Castro, who is chief of state, head of government, First Secretary of the PCC, and commander in chief of the armed forces. In March 2003, Castro announced his intention to remain in power for life.
The Communist Party of Cuba is the only legal party. The Cuban people are unable to exercise fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to association. Furthermore, no organizations or activities outside those controlled by the Cuban government are allowed. 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, though the ballots are nominally secret.
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. In any event, the National Assembly meets only twice a year for a few days each time; the 31-member Council of State, appointed by Castro, wields power.
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. "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 offense.
Because the electoral system does not allow oppositional candidates, these elections are generally not considered to be 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).
Although the constitution hypothetically allows legislative proposals backed by at least 10,000 citizens to be submitted directly to the National Assembly, in 2002 the government rejected a petition known as the Varela Project, supporters of which submitted 11,000 signatures calling for a national referendum on political and economic reforms. In response, the government arrested dozens of activists in March 2003 for participating in the Varela Project. In October 2003, Project Varela organizers submitted a second petition to the National Assembly with an additional 14,000 signatures. The government has not accepted this petition either.
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.
See also
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
- Background Note: Cuba