-Isaac Saney, National Spokesperson, Canadian Network On Cuba, April 17,2018-

On April 18, Cuba’s newly elected National Assembly of People’s Power, the island’s parliament, will inaugurate a new sitting of legislators, the Constituent Session of the 9th Legislature. Guided by the mandate bestowed by the people of Cuba, the National Assembly will initiate a new stage in the history of the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban nation. With the election of a new president and Council of State, the revolutionary torch will be passed from the historic generation that made the Cuban Revolution to the new generations born during and within the revolution.

The international monopoly media is awash with much malicious speculation. They fail to realize, they refuse to acknowledge and cannot accept, that it is, as Cuba citizen Ventura Carballido Pupo notes, “the same revolution, the same Party, the same legacy of Fidel, the same revolutionary people” that continue on the path of independence, sovereignty, social justice, self-determination and human dignity.

The Cuban Revolution is the vehicle for the realization and consummation of these historical aspirations. Cuba’s system of governance provides the means by which these historical aspirations are expressed in a political consensus to defend, strengthen and perfect the revolutionary project.

Extensive democratic popular participation in decision-making is at the centre of the Cuban model of governance. Cuba’s organs of government are the municipal, provincial and national assemblies of the system of Poder Popular (People’s Power), whose delegates are directly elected by the Cuban electorate. These bodies are augmented by a very active and vibrant civil society. A critical aspect of the Cuban political system is the integration of a variety of mass organizations into political activity. No new policy or legislation can be adopted or contemplated until the appropriate organization or association representing the sector of society that would be directly affected has been consulted.

Moreover, Cubans are not preoccupied with a mere mechanical implementation of a rigid, unchanging model. Contrary to dominant misconceptions, the Cuban it is not a static entity. Cubans have periodically renovated and renewed their political system.

The National Assembly is the sole body with legislative authority. The National Assembly chooses from amongst its members the Council of State, the President and Vice-Presidents, all of which are accountable to the National Assembly. The Council of State carries out the duties and responsibilities of the National Assembly, such as the passage and implementation of decrees, when the National Assembly is not in session. There are also ten permanent standing commissions of the National Assembly that meet and work through-out the year, discussing and debating a wide-range of topics, including, among many others, the economy, foreign investment, industry, the environment, constitutional and legal affairs, education, culture, science and technology.

The historic nature of the 9th session of the National Assembly of Popular Power lies in its affirmation of the historical continuity and renewal of the Cuban Revolution. The 605 elected delegates of Cuba’s national legislature will vote for the 31 members the Council of State, including the 5 Vice-Presidents, the First Vice-President and the new President, establishing Cuba’s new national government. The deputies of the National Assembly will begin this new stage firmly rooted in socialist society and guided by revolutionary principles. As Fidel expressed in his last public intervention on April 19, 2016 before the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba,” “We will continue on the march forward and we will perfect what we should perfect, with utmost loyalty and unity just as Martí , Maceo and Gómez, in an invincible march.“

¡Viva La Revolución Cubana!