“Bahamians urged to take an interest in Cuba election”
Cubans vote in seventh poll since 1976
By ALISON LOWE
Taken from Tribune Staff Reporter
21 January, 2008
CUBANS took to the polls yesterday to vote in their seventh general election since 1976, when the Caribbean nation approved a new socialist constitution in a referendum.
Cuban Ambassador to the Bahamas, Jose Luis Ponce told The Tribune that he feels it is important that Bahamians are aware of the event, and the process by which candidates are selected and elected, in order for them to put “biased”, primarily US-based, news media reports about the island into perspective.
“Bahamians will be able to enhance their vision about Cuba. It would help to have both sides of the coin,” he said.
In the election, voters – of whom there are over eight and a half million registered, from a population of more than 11 million – cast their ballots to determine who will sit on both national and provincial assemblies.
Delegates from the 614-member national assembly, or parliament, will in the coming days go on to elect the 31 members of the country’s Council of State, who in turn will elect the President – a position “temporarily” held by Fidel’s brother, Raul, since Fidel underwent major surgery in 2006 – vice president, and other senior figures.
The ambassador contends that, contrary to assertions made abroad – and by dissidents within — Cuban democracy is alive and well, and in fact allows the average person a greater say in their governmental affairs than many US or citizens of other countries of a western liberal democratic ilk are afforded.
He maintains that the election process does not involve pressure being applied by the party, either to vote or in terms of the selection of candidates.
“We only have one party in Cuba, the communist party, but the party has nothing to do with it,” Mr Ponce claimed.
In a process that began last October, candidates for municipal assemblies are chosen at the “grassroots” level in town meetings where any man or woman can propose any other person in their area for election.
The Cuban ambassador emphasized that all are on a level playing field when it comes to their shot at political life, partly because there is no campaigning, and no money involved.
“What we do is we put your biography and the merits that you have in a public place. We get the other candidates that could be chosen together with yours, so people can decide,” he said.
Whoever wins the simple majority of votes – over 50 per cent — will now go on to enter local government. The successful individuals are charged with ratifying the candidates for the national and provincial assemblies, as proposed by commissions made up of, among others, representatives of “grassroots-based” unions, farmers, students, and women’s organizations.
Mr Ponce denied that Cubans may have voted yesterday out of fear of being seen to express disapproval of the party.
“Let’s say that you are going to go because you fear something, once you are inside you can do whatever you want, you can leave your ballot blank or write whatever you want.”
He claimed that with only five to six per cent of the ballots found to be “invalid” or “blank” in the election five years ago, this proves that “the population is supporting the way we do things.”
Asked whether the fact that Fidel Castro has been at the helm of the one party state for so long diminishes any claim to genuine choice, Mr Ponce said Mr Castro’s political longevity is thanks to him having the necessary “authority (and) merits” in the eye’s of the Cuban electorate.
Denying the suggestion that those with dissenting opinions would be unable to advance in the elections, Mr Ponce stated that many of the candidates are “not even party members.”
“They are housekeepers, they are religious leaders—some of them are artists. There is a whole variety from the whole span of the society representing the people discussing issues that will be of interest to the Cuban people,” he said.
The Cuban government and the press – which is under state control — condemns US calls for change of the system in Cuba, which President George W Bush has said is required in order for the US to consider lifting their internationally-criticised trade embargo, in place since 1960.
In response to criticisms of their government and the labelling of their elections as “shams” by the US government, the Cuban government has in turn denounced the US electoral system, which, they point out, allowed Mr Bush to take the country’s highest political office despite receiving around half a million votes less than his opponent.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International has condemned restrictions on freedom of the press, expression and association in Cuba, and in particular the arrest and detention of “people suspected of links with dissident groups or involved in promoting human rights” in the one-party state.
A 2007 report records that in 2007 there were 69 “prisoners of conscience” on the Caribbean island, known to be imprisoned on charges such as “resistance” and “contempt to the figure of Fidel Castro.” (Cubaminrex-Embacuba Bahamas)