Cuban delegates to account to the voters
Cuban delegates to account to the voters
The Council of State convokes accountability meetings
On June 17, 2024, the Cuban Council of State convoked accountability meetings of the delegates to the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power. The accountability meetings of elected delegates with the voters of their districts provide opportunities for voters to express their evaluation of the work of the delegate since being elected, and to reiterate their priorities and concerns.
The Council of State consists of deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power that have been elected by the Assembly to act in its behalf between sessions. To remind, the National Assembly of People’s Power is elected directly and indirectly by the people to five-year terms, and it is the highest political authority in Cuba. The delegates of the municipal assemblies, elected directly to five-year terms in secret voting by the population, are not professional politicians, and they keep their regular jobs as they serve as delegates, as do most of the deputies of the National Assembly.
The accountability assemblies will occur between September 20 and November 15. It is anticipated that more than 65,000 assemblies will be held in local public places in 12,427 voting districts across the island.
The rendering of accounts by the elected delegates before assemblies of their voters is an important custom in Cuba. Required by the Constitution, it is an integral dimension of the process of people’s democracy, in which the political structures promote the active and direct participation of the people, ensuring that the people are a protagonist in the process of socialist construction. The accountability assemblies constitute opportunities to give attention to the understandings and views of the people with respect to the problems of the society, thus strengthening the search for solutions.
The President of the Council of State, Estaban Lazo Hernández, declared that “it will be an ideal space to continue building our Socialism from the neighborhood with unity and popular participation, to overcome difficulties and challenges together. It is a scenario of dialogue and collaboration; of contribution to community transformation in the material and spiritual dimensions, and to strengthen the Revolution in our small island.”
The Secretary of the Council of State, Homero Acosta Álvarez, explained that many of the delegates, having been newly elected recently, will be rendering accounts for the first time. It should be noted that high turnover in the assemblies of people’s power is a normal tendency of the Cuban political process, because of the high demands placed upon the delegates, and because the process does not generate a professional political class.
In normal times, the accountability assemblies often have a somewhat conflictive character, as the people gathered in assembly tend to make demands of a concrete and particular character, many of which the delegate does not necessarily have the means to resolve. Those delegates who continue serving for several terms of office, even as they continue to pursue their regular employment and careers, often are skilled in managing the situation gracefully and with good explanations of realities.
In the context of the current economic crises—characterized by shortages of fuel, food, and consumer goods that the state is not able to resolve—the inherent conflictual tension in the nomination assemblies could possibly be acute. To be sure, the situation of potential conflict is alleviated by the fact that the government constantly explains to the people the reasons for the shortages, and it has developed and explained well-conceived plans for economic recovery. Nevertheless, to ensure that the delegates are well prepared for the upcoming accountability assemblies, the National Assembly organized an orientation program from October to December 2023, in which newly elected delegates were freed from their normal work responsibilities in order to participate in direct interchanges with the voters in their voting districts, with the support of more experienced delegates. More than 2,500,000 voters participated in the interchanges, who made 86,755 proposals, 75% of which were attended to, with the support of local organs of governmental administration. In addition, the delegates have been granted leaves of absence from their regular employment during the month of September 2024, to give them time to prepare well for the accountability assemblies, consulting with the mass organizations, youth organizations, and the local governmental administration.
Acosta expressed confidence that the people will rise to the occasion and will actively participate in the accountability assemblies, called to participate by the Party, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (a neighborhood mass organization), and the Federation of Cuban Women (which is organized by neighborhoods and local communities). He declared that the people will participate in a constructive and mature manner, contributing to the continuing identification and resolution of practical problems. For his part, Lazo Hernández stressed the unique and genuinely Cuban relationship between the voters and their representatives, which is always strengthened by timely explanations by the delegates and by the participation and support of the people in addressing practical problems.
The President of the Council of State asserted that “it has been a correct and audacious decision of the Council of State, backed by the country's top leadership, to convene this important process in the midst of this complex and challenging scenario, always with the decisive support and in the legitimate interest of our people, with unity as our fundamental weapon. This will be an opportunity to attend to the proposals of the population, to seek solutions to problems with unity and popular participation, and to strengthen the role of the delegates and the results of the management of People's Power. It will be an opportunity to emerge stronger in our struggle against the main distortions that affect our people today.”
Lazo Hernandez recalled the words of Fidel, who characterized the delegates “as the heroes and heroines of our neighborhoods, who are the base of our political system.”
Gismy Inés Peña Rodríguez is a delegate of voting district 7 of the urban zone of the municipality of Puerto Padre in the rural province of Las Tunas in central/eastern Cuba. In an interview with Granma, she declared: “We owe respect to each of the voters, because they placed their trust in us, elected us as their representatives and, therefore, we have the duty to give them an account of our management. Showing them with transparency what we have achieved and what remains to be achieved, but always making it clear that everything is done with their support. That's not something I say because it's logical or because it should be that way, but because of my personal experience. Because I can say that every day, from the moment I was elected, I have had the unconditional support of my community.”
Peña Rodríguez observed that the accountability assemblies are part of “a process of interchange, of dialogue with our constituents, and that is nothing new, it is something that we always do, as part of our work. It is a time to listen to each other, on both sides, to talk as they need and deserve. We have to create a culture that allows us to communicate. As delegates, we are always willing to listen to their concerns, but we also look for ways for them to understand the reality we face.” She further observed that “it is true that we do not have the resources to give them, but the main resource is sensitivity to their problems, and our dedicated effort to fulfill our work.”
For more on the Cuban system of people’s power, see:
People’s Democracy in Cuba: A vanguard political-economic system
The President of the Council of State pointed out that the economic war directed against Cuba is a central causal factor in creating the economic crisis in Cuba.
Without doubt, the complex national economic scenario caused, essentially, by the intensification of the blockade imposed by the government of the United States against our country, by the application of 243 measures by the Trump administration and maintained by the Biden administration, by the unjust inclusion of Cuba in the spurious list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism, by the international economic crisis—which has led to an increase in prices on the world market for food and fuel, among other products of vital importance—by the consequences derived from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, together with our own limitations and deficiencies, have had a significant impact on the situation of the country and our communities.
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But, as we have done in previous periods of our history, we are sure that we will move forward, with the firm guidance of our Party, with unity, with the support of all to the process of implementing the government's projections to correct distortions and reboot the economy.
Lazo Hernánez cited Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who declared that to defend the concept of People's Power is to "defend the sustainability and viability of socialism in Cuba."
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