Cuba lived this Sunday another election day, in which local governments elected governors and vice governors of the 15 provinces of the island with more than 90 percent of the valid votes, according to the president of the National Electoral Council (CEN), Alina Balseiro.
Voting began in unison throughout the country at 09:00 local time (13:00 GMT), in an exercise that, Balseiro said, took place normally and in accordance with Cuban transparency and legality.
The Cuban Electoral Law establishes that both positions are proposed by the president and voted by the councilors who make up the governments of each municipality in the Municipal Assemblies, a kind of local parliament made up of delegates elected last November by the population, in charge of approving the presidential proposals using the vote.
The highest governmental authorities of each province shall take office for five years starting next June 4, according to the date established by an agreement of the Council of State.
According to the CEN report, only six of the 15 governors elected today were reelected.
On the social network Twitter, the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power (unicameral parliament), Esteban Lazo, acknowledged the performance of those who conclude their governmental functions, congratulating the governors and deputy governors elected in what he described as “another day of socialist democracy and victory of the Revolution”.
The parliamentary leader, also president of the Council of State, attended the election of the main governmental positions in the province of Havana, in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, a territory he represents as a deputy in the National Assembly.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel also participated in the election of the authorities of the central province of Villa Clara, in the municipality of Santa Clara, for which he was elected as a deputy.
According to the law, candidates for governor or vice-governor must be born in Cuba, have no other citizenship, be at least 30 years old, reside in the province, and fully enjoy civil and political rights.
The governor is the highest executive-administrative head of the province, where a provincial government is in charge; also composed of a Provincial Council that acts as a coordinator between the central structures of the State and the municipalities,
Under this legislative mandate, governors are accountable and report on their performance to the National Assembly and the Councils of State, Ministers, and Provincial Councils.
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