At the

this Wednesday, it was explained how the candidates for deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power are chosen and the role of mass organizations in the proper functioning of the electoral process.

For this, Leovanis Ávila Góngora, member of the national secretariat of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) and Yamila Sarduy Martínez, member of the National Bureau of the ANAP National Section, were present.

On video, Round Table

Leovanis Ávila Góngora, member of the national secretariat of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), began by explaining in his speech the origin of the candidates for deputies of the National Assembly of Popular Power (ANPP) in Cuba.

“Our candidates do not represent an elite, nor privileged sectors.

They are humble men.

The only country in the world in which a peasant can be a representative in this way, be elected by his people, is Cuba, because in another he would have to have wealth, influence or answer to an elite, ”he assured.

Regarding the role of the CTC in the process, he affirmed that it has a high responsibility.

"Based on Electoral Law 127, which establishes the candidacy commissions, in charge of making proposals for the formation of municipal assemblies and candidacy for the national assembly, which is made up of the CDR, FMC, ANAP, the CTC and organizations students like the FEU and the FEEM”.

Ávila stressed that

In other words, it has the responsibility of coordinating and bringing together the rest of the organizations.

"In addition, the decisions of the candidacy commission are collegiate by majority vote, as established in the Law," said the member of the national secretariat of the CTC.

On how to reach the candidates, the director explained that "the electoral law establishes that, once the elections are called, the candidacy commissions at the different levels request the plenary sessions of the organizations to make the proposals of the comrades who meet the requirements to be nominated as candidates for deputies to the National Assembly.

“There is a previous job.

It is necessary to clarify: who integrates the plenary sessions?

In the case of the CTC, they are grassroots workers, labor heroes, educators…”.

He pointed out that municipal, provincial and national commissions have been created in the country.

“There is great diversity and all sectors are represented in the municipal plenary sessions of the CTC.

Then, that representative who is in your base structure, makes an evaluation and identifies who are the people from your center, branch or other activity that are suitable for the task.

“It has happened that the CTC proposes a federated woman, a youth or a peasant, just as the FMC has proposed workers.

In other words, it is not limited to the scope of action of an organization.

That is why the diversity we have, and if it were not so, sectors such as sports, religion, culture, community leaders would not be represented..."

He explained that when the municipal, provincial and national plenary meetings meet, it is that the proposals are presented, those that come from the base with a foundation.

In the current period, more than 900 plenary sessions of all the organizations were held in the country

.

"Some 19,000 companions were proposed for their merits, results, and interaction with the people."

He specified that this year the ANPP has 470 deputies, with a decrease of 135. “It was sought that there would be a representation of all sectors.

Once we had that quarry we did another job: the candidacy commissions.

So, we reached the figure of 4,000 comrades, in whom we saw that they have the best conditions to represent the people and that no sector of Cuban society, which is very diverse, would remain without being reflected.

The process required hard work from thousands of colleagues who spent hours, weeks, and months debugging.

“This was not with artificial intelligence, or some computer algorithm.

They were men with a high responsibility, appointed by the CTC and other organizations to propose, given such diversity, 470 deputies who represent the people of Cuba, regardless of a territory, municipality, or sector, ”he indicated.

He specified in his intervention at the

that the candidacy commission outlines a candidate proposal, but it is the municipal assemblies that definitively approve.

Once this is done, the proposal becomes a candidate.

He reported that the numbers confirm the diversity that has been achieved in the process.

“221 grassroots delegates.

In other words, the Law establishes that up to 50% must come from the base.

It is the delegate of the constituency, elected by direct vote of the people, that is, the one who touches on the problems”.

He also explained

In this regard, he said that the National Assembly is the one that will direct, legislate and make decisions in the country, therefore, the municipal, provincial and national levels must be represented, as well as all sectors of society, including the not state.

He specified that there is a high number of renewals (64%) in the current assembly, while 55% are women.

“We have the second parliament with the largest number of women in the world.

This is a dream even for developed countries and is related to the National Program for the Advancement of Women and the very transformation of the role of women within the Cuban Revolution”.

Likewise, according to Ávila Góngora,

while 45.9% correspond to blacks and mulattoes (much higher than the previous parliament), and 95% of them have the upper level. the deputies.

Regarding the process of visiting these candidates to the regions, municipalities or provinces and the publication of the biographical files on television, the member of the CTC's national secretariat described it as transcendent.

"It is not only that this candidate is sometimes not known at different levels, it is that even in the territory itself, you can have a delegate from the constituency who is not known within the municipality, however, he who is from national descent they do know him, because he is a personality, or stands out in some field.

“That is why this process of direct interaction of the representatives in the National Assembly with the peasants, the community, the self-employed, the labor collectives seems essential to us.

Always speaking transparently, without formalities, listening to dissatisfactions, problems and the expectations of the people about how that deputy - when he is elected - will represent him, and he will see himself represented ”, he added.

According to the manager, one of the demands of the population is that this method of work be systematized.

“In addition, once our deputies are elected, a work system will have to be established so that the deputies are permanently linked to the municipalities, the neighborhoods in transformation.

"In this way, it will be possible to know first-hand what is happening in the demarcation that it represents, in order to be able to transfer the situations that arise. This is a fundamental element, which demonstrates democracy and the direct link between the deputies and the people." concluded.

ANAP and the electoral process

Yamila Sarduy Martínez, a member of the National Bureau of the ANAP National Section, began her intervention at the

, arguing why the peasant sector has played an important role in the electoral process.

“We start with the grassroots organizations of the ANAP, in the cooperatives.

That is to say, we exchanged with producers and promoted the participation of our cadres of all levels in the assemblies of associates to guide how this process would develop”.

“1661 pre-candidates were elected in the plenary sessions of the municipal committees.

Subsequently, the plenary sessions of the provincial committees were held with 675 proposals.

We brought 435 proposals to the national plenary session.

Not only peasants, but we had the opportunity to propose authorities, representatives of culture and sports, from all spheres, ”he explained.

Sarduy Martínez assured on television that

“These peasants were chosen by their own colleagues, by the associates, for their merits and comprehensive results, because we not only produce food, but we also work together with all the authorities in the communities and they are gaining experience in dealing with the population”, commented the directive.

There are prepared peasants, medium technicians, based on the possibility they have had to be trained.

“We have 17 candidates for deputies to the National Assembly of People's Power;

six of them cooperative members who work directly on the land”.

In a second moment of the television space, Leovanys Ávila Góngora, assured that we are at a decisive moment in the electoral process, which is to achieve the mobilization of workers, families, peasants, federated, so that they attend the voting on the 26th.

“We have to work together with the employers of service centers and others who work 24 hours, in a group of organizational measures to guarantee that these workers can attend to exercise their right to vote.”

See also:

Elect and be elected: A citizen's right