Electoral emotion in Cuba

Cubans go to the polls tomorrow to elect the members of the National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body in the face of the economic crisis.

The presidential candidate will also be determined by voting among the deputies in the Assembly, where legislative activities will take place for a period of five years. Half of the parliamentary candidates were determined by municipal councils and the other half by electoral boards such as unions and student associations.

Candidates must receive more than 50 percent of the vote in their district to win seats in the National Assembly. If the candidate does not get enough votes, the Assembly can make the appointments for the region in question or allow the municipal commissions to do so.

THE OPPOSITION CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTIONS

Human rights organizations criticize the electoral process, alleging that it prevents the participation of the opposition. There are no opposition candidates in the race. Contrary to multi-party political systems, the majority of candidates for Parliament in Cuba are members of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Miguel Díaz-Canel, the first president to take office after Fidel and Raúl Castro, is expected to be elected to another five-year term. Díaz-Canel was also a candidate for deputy.

In the municipal elections held in November 2022, turnout fell below 70 percent for the first time.

The new legislators will have to deal with the current problems of the country, which has been greatly affected by the economic crisis caused by Covid-19, food shortages, inflation and US sanctions.

The United States has been imposing economic sanctions on Cuba since the early 1960s. While former US President Barack Obama began to ease sanctions, Donald Trump reimposed the softened sanctions and added new ones. The Joe Biden administration announced that some measures were relaxed. (AA)