Havana, Cuba, April 27, 2016 – The Cubalex Legal Information Center, the Cuban Youth Dialogue Table, and the Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy recently presented three proposals for reforming the Cuban electoral process, taking into account that in the The plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) made a statement in 2015 in favor of the implementation of a new Electoral Law and the subsequent holding of general elections.
The three organizations, along with others, asserted their legitimate right to participate in the reform process initiated by the PCC, "so that all proposals generated by civil society at the recently concluded party congress could be heard and debated." This was stated in the letter sent to Ms. Mercedes López Acea, first secretary of the PCC's provincial committee.
The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, in its first article, protects us in the exercise of political freedom to make these demands, even though there has been no response from the representative of the PCC.
The three proposals were clearFirst, transparency in the electoral process; second, freedom to choose and equal conditions to be elected; third, the right of candidates to campaign.
Even though the proposals are based on the human rights violations suffered by Cubans, the PCC Congress ratified its position of maintaining a totalitarian state.
The re-election of Raúl Castro as General Secretary of the Party and the ratification of the irrevocability of socialism in Cuba are examples of the intransigent stance maintained so far.
Therefore, there will be no solution to the problems highlighted in the proposals submitted by the Cubalex office and the other organizations.
The voting for candidates will continue to be by show of hands, which will guarantee the coercion of voters; the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) will continue to exercise control over the nomination process of candidates through their value judgments; there will be no possibility of founding political parties, civic associations created by citizen spontaneity independent of the ideological line of the PCC, nor will there be debates on public policies.
The indifference of the PCC Congress to the proposals of independent civil society reaffirms that in the Cuba conceived from within the party ranks, no one who is not previously assigned by pro-government mass organizations will be able to join the electoral boards or access information that is universally recognized as public.
The PCC Congress has indicated that whatever happens in 2018, when a political succession is assured, will only be a formal gesture.
As long as the political and electoral system remains unchanged, Raúl Castro, as general secretary, holds the power. Because even though the Party's power is informal and indirect, the one who pulls the strings of government is the one who leads the party organization.
Both the reforms to the Constitution of the Republic announced by Castro and the new electoral law will continue to be the unequivocal expression of the Cuban dictatorship, as long as Cuban civil society is relegated to the margins of key decisions in Cuban politics.
The silence in response is consistent with the policy of the Cuban state; however, this attitude serves as a pretext for the signatories of the document to continue exerting pressure not only on the international organizations in charge of the electoral issue; but they will continue to insist, this time before the National Assembly of People's Power.