Cuban municipal polls close as opposition deplores pressure, Sunday’s municipal elections in Cuba took place in the midst of a severe economic crisis that some feared would reduce voter turnout. Additionally, the opposition claimed that several of its candidates were subjected to unfair pressure. After a day of peaceful voting, polls closed at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), one hour later than anticipated, according to AFP journalists. The extension, according to election officials, was requested by polling places and voters themselves.
Cuban municipal polls close as opposition deplores pressure
According to the National Electoral Council, more than 12,400 municipal delegates, or councilors, were chosen from the 27,000 candidates who had been nominated by show of hands in neighborhood assemblies as of 5:00 p.m. Almost 64% of Cuba’s eight million eligible voters had cast a secret ballot as of that time. After returning from a trip that took him to Algeria, Russia, Turkey, and China earlier on Sunday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel went to a polling place in Playa, west of Havana, with his wife Lis Cuesta.
He later told reporters that the electoral process confirmed the political and social stability of the island, despite the “economic suffocation” he said the United States was imposing on Cuba. The government had mounted an intense get-out-the-vote campaign on social media, as well as in the press and on television — both controlled by the ruling Communist Party, which oversees the election process but does not nominate candidates. But the opposition platform known as the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CDTC), which promotes change and pluralism in the country through legal means, called on people to abstain, citing unfair pressure by the government.
– ‘Political police’ –
Its vice president, Manuel Cuesta, told AFP that three of the group’s candidates had been prevented “by the political police” from participating in neighborhood assemblies because they appeared to have a good chance of winning. He said a fourth candidate, Jose Cabrera, was nominated in the southeastern city of Palma Soriano but never made it to the ballot over “threats of losing his job” and other difficulties. The Cuban government has branded opposition members as US “mercenaries.”
These elections are the first step in a unique electoral system. Councilors elected Sunday will form municipal governments that will propose 50 percent of the candidates for provincial assemblies and the National Assembly, which in turn elects the Council of State and the Cuban president from among its members. The other 50 percent are put forward by social organizations close to the government.
The opposition contends that Communist Party militants have the power to prevent the election of any opposition member, despite the fact that the system theoretically allows any Cuban to enter parliament. The economic crisis, which has caused food and medical shortages as well as daily blackouts on the island, is a further source of concern for the election, which will be the first since Diaz-Canel took office in 2018. This could also lead to a rise in abstentionism. Those who do not receive a clear majority this Sunday will compete in a runoff on December 4.