Polls opened Sunday throughout Cuba for over 8 million voters to decide on the National Assembly, the island nation’s highest legislative physique, for a five-year time period.
Over 23,600 polling stations opened their doorways at 7 a.m. native time and are scheduled to shut at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Some 175,600 college students are accountable for guarding the poll bins.
There are 470 candidates working for a similar variety of seats, with no opposition candidates competing. Most of the candidates for the Cuban parliament are members of the Communist Party, the one authorized celebration on the island.
Historical figures of the revolution, similar to former President Raul Castro, 91, are among the many candidates.
The lawmakers might be accountable for nominating a presidential candidate, who might be elected in a vote amongst themselves. Miguel Diaz-Canel, chief of the Communist Party of Cuba, is predicted to win a second time period.
Brian Nichols, the US undersecretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs, on Friday criticized the elections in Cuba, saying that the Cuban folks “deserve to choose” their representatives with freedom.
“On Sunday, Cubans will once again be denied a real election for their National Assembly,” mentioned Nichols on Twitter. “When the only option is the Communist Party and closed committees choose candidates to run without opposition, there is no democracy, only autocracy and misery. Cubans deserve to choose,” he added.
Following Nichols’ criticism, on Saturday Cuban President Diaz-Canel lashed out in opposition to the US on the Ibero-American Summit within the Dominican Republic. Seeking the assist of Ibero-American leaders, the president condemned the commerce embargo and Washington’s choice to maintain the island on a listing of nations sponsoring terrorism.
“The US government is determined to destabilize our country and destroy the Cuban revolution,” he mentioned.
The vote comes at a time when Cuba is going through its worst financial disaster in a long time, with shortages of meals, an unprecedented wave of migration, galloping inflation, and crippling US sanctions.
Non-voters have been a defining trait in latest elections, which, consultants say, might undermine the legitimacy of Cuba’s subsequent authorities. Turnout for municipal elections final November fell under 70% for the primary time. The opposition has advocated abstention as an indication of rejection of the electoral system.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
