2-28-05, 9:24 am

The only requirement is to receive majority support

From Granma

THE exercise of political rights in Cuba is undergoing another critical test. Beginning today, and until March 24, tens of thousands of voter assemblies will take place, and more than eight million citizens will nominate their candidates for municipal delegates. Anyone may be nominated in these meetings; the only requirement is to receive majority support.

To have at once the ability and the legal power to be the person who both proposes and nominates, directly, instead of having electoral machinery do it for you, is a privilege with respect to the current state of the world, affirms Ricardo Alarcón Quesada, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, in an interview with Granma daily.

It is important, he says, that in each voting district, we reflect on who would be the best choice, in the people’s opinion. We enjoy a unique privilege, and that power should be used with the utmost wisdom.

If we wish to thrive with respect to quality of life, or undertake actions that may contribute to doing so, we must then reflect on who has the best training, experience and spirit of enterprise to be a delegate in our district. That reflection, he clarifies, should be one that does not underestimate the presence of young people and women who possess great virtues.

Who would the best candidates be? The answer to that, notes the Political Bureau member, must come from the citizens in each district. Nobody, whether members of the electoral commissions, or government or party authorities, will assume the responsibility of thinking for the people; therein lies the importance of dialogue amongst the people in each nomination assembly.

Any distancing of the voters from the nomination process would weaken the labors of the delegate, he affirms, and diminish the efficacy of future People’s Power municipal assemblies.

Our system – he recalls – is based on rejecting the demagoguery and cheating that is routine elsewhere, where candidates come into contact with the people and make promises to win votes, but then rarely keep their word, much less maintain periodic contact with their constituents.

In the case of Cuba, he reflected, those who occupy elected posts do not change their natures; they continue to be neighbors of the voters; they do not receive privileges or charge a cent for their work as representatives. They continue to be members of the community, their strength is found in their links with the people and this relationship has to be present from the very start of the process: the nomination assemblies.

SHARING, NOT HANDING OVER RIGHTS

It is not the individual delegate alone who solves problems, such a person does not exist; rather, the delegate should be a citizen whose abilities and effectiveness are in direct relation to collective participation by the community in common tasks and problems, Alarcón noted.

“It is through the delegate that the voters and the political system are naturally joined together. Thus, the delegate should be capable of organizing and leading the community, of participating in the municipal government, and of contributing to the decision-making in both the provincial and national spheres.”

The delegate, he emphasizes, is part of the municipal assembly, which among other responsibilities, appoints, controls and supervises local administration. Moreover, any delegate may eventually be president of a municipal assembly, member of his or her provincial assembly or parliamentary deputy. All of these things must be thought about at the time of proposing and nominating candidates.

NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS

Billions of people around the world, stated Alarcón, would like to know whether their electoral rights have been recognized. Billions of people want to be able to control these mechanisms in order to counteract the power of the political machinery established to remove the liberties of citizens. Billions of people would also like to have, if only once in a lifetime, the opportunity to nominate candidates.

For the Cuban people, he explained, all these aspirations are realities that have been carried out for almost 30 years, and if we are capable of exercising these rights with vigor and intensity, as well creating another political bastion with these elections, we would also be achieving another important step towards perfecting the system of People’s Power.

Like all human work, he concluded, the representative structures of the Cuban state are open to improvement, and the key to this step forward is the conscious participation of the people, their genuine incorporation into all aspects of the system, that views the people as the protagonists.

“The privilege of exercising civil and political rights is a dream for the vast majority of humanity and deserves a responsible attitude on the part of the Cuban people.”

» Go to more articles from PA's online edition.

» Go to sample articles from this month's print edition

» Support PA with your subscription