Vote in Cuba
According to Granma, the National Electoral Commission says that every vote in Cuba shows "an unequivocal message of Cubans' confidence in their political system" thus marking "another brilliant page in the history of the island's political system." Brilliant!
There will then be "a public count by the authorities in the presence of anyone who wishes to attend." It is safe to say that the definition of "anyone" is fairly elastic. As is the definition of "vote" and "count."
2 comments:
It sounds crazy but why can't the Cuban communist party allow the local delegates to have some real authority in local matters? The system, as anti-democratic as it is, could have some flexibility and responsiveness if it would carry out its theory more fully. One step forward would be for the state to determine that security, foreign policy etc...belongs to Havana, but that setting up local markets, letting farmers sell goods, small independent businesses was a matter of local concern. How can Fidel's party be threatened by a local government that attacks corruption and wants to provide better services? It is really scary how much fear the barbudos have of everyday people making decisions to better their lives.
^ in theory the local delegates, will bring in "local" concerns from their constituent base to the general assembly - including complaints about ineffectiveness of some government services or incompetent functionaries.
But in a Leninist State there is a perilous line between constructive criticism of local problems and questioning the revolutionary process On a practical level, asking for even small changes, exposing corruption, and busting incompetent officials can create conflicts againt well-connected cliques or regional feifdoms within the nomenklatura. The types who can screw a local official in many ways.
And when the criticism gets too "systemic", you in essence challenging the wisdom of the Communist Party leadership, which of course is derived from a "correct" "scientific" analysis of the situation. And it is "democratic" because the people of Cuba "chose" the Party to lead them, and consented to this wisdom being hoisted on them.
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