Cuba Politics News and Information
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Anita Snow | AP
Cuba announced Tuesday it has set Jan. 20 for national elections that are part of the process of determining whether ailing leader Fidel Castro continues as president.
The ruling, signed by interim leader Raul Castro and read on state television, set the date for elections to provincial and national assemblies &#xu2;014 voting that is held every five years.
There was no explicit mention of Fidel Castro, but the 81-year-old leader of the Cuban Revolution must be re-elected to the national parliament before he could repeat as president of the Council of State to remain in full power.
Raul, 76, is the council’s first vice president.
The date for the national elections had not been previously announced, but earlier indications were that the vote would not be held until March or April. There was no word on why the balloting will be held in January.
Fidel Castro stepped aside on July 31, 2006, after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery, provisionally ceding his powers to Raul and a team of other top leaders. He has not been seen in public since, appearing only in official photographs and videos and regularly writing essays with mostly international themes.
The parliament, known in Cuba as the National Assembly, elects a new council every five years, several weeks after deputies are elected. It was not announced when the new National Assembly would meet for the first time to renew the top council members.
The Constitution calls for the council’s first vice president, currently Raul, to fill the presidential slot when vacated. Fidel, Cuba’s unchallenged leader since 1959, held the council presidency since its 1976 creation.
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I predict yet another landslide victory for the PCC.
Signature:
For change (cambio) we can believe in.
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy
to those of you that hope for a landslide PCC victory I have some discuraging information.
The PCC are not entering the election.
According to the results of the municipal elections only a third of the elected were members of the party. This indicates a possible drastic change of the incumbants of the new National Assembly. But it is hard to tell before the elections are held.
For those candidates not affiliated with the PCC, what other political Party are they affiliated with? The Authenticos? Orthodoxos? Socialists? Perhaps the Green Party? In a democracy, the purpose of elections is to enable the electorate to determine how they are to be governed. A democratic government governs with the consent of the governed. When he took over in 1959, Fidel promised free elections. Still waiting.
Signature:
For change (cambio) we can believe in.
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy
I predict one of the Castros and the PCC would win. Far to easy, even my son knows that. He also knows that there are no elections in Cuba, this is purely propaganda.
I agree with you on what you say about democracy but it leads you to nothing here.
Your obsession with political parties is a little peculiar, I think because such reasonings can be used at any direction.
None of the parties you mentioned exist anymore. The Orthodoxos ( Partido Popular ) come the closest as one could say they live on in the shape of the “26 of july movement”. But this you knew, of course !
In the US independent candidates are rather common. Is that a democratic shortcoming or an advantage ?
In the US there are only two parties. None of them are parliamentary ideological parties in the europeen meaning. Not very far from a one-pary system !
Denmark has 9 parties. Is that why they are 3 times as democratic as England with only 3 ?
in Germany to be represented in Parliament your party must win 5% of the popular vote (used to be 3% but they raised it to 5% quite a while back to keep competition out when it looked like a new party would gt 3% easily but not 5%). Also only half the parliament is elected; the otehr half appointed by the political parties. Is this democracy the way its meant to be? Its all relative. Sure Cuba does not have democratic elections from our reference point; but there is choice - more than in some countries.
