Recently, the Cuban Media echoed the agreement of the Council of State to call for accountability meetings of the delegates of the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power to their voters, meetings that will take place during the period included in the 1st. quarter of 2024 by decision of the Council of State.
This is one of the most important processes carried out in the Popular Power system: a direct form of citizen participation that constitutes the expression of socialist democracy in communities. These meetings will allow Cubans over 16 years of age to learn about, evaluate and give their opinion on the management of their representatives, for a certain period.
The law establishes that delegates are accountable at least once a year and that they can be removed from office at any time.
Voters, for their part, have the possibility to express concerns or dissatisfaction about the conditions in their constituency. The criteria are received and processed according to established procedures or resolved with popular participation.
Undoubtedly, this is one of the possibilities most appreciated by the population, because amid the complex economic situation that this Caribbean country has experienced in recent decades, many of the partial or total solutions of the day- day problems arise from the debate. mostly in these meetings.
People express what affects the quality of services or undermines the living conditions of the community, and they do this in the presence of directors of institutions and administrators of entities, responsible for solving these issues .
Precisely, to promote the exchange, the agreement adopted by the Council of State relies on the Provincial Governments of the People’s Power and local administrations to contribute to the development of this process and guarantee, at the request of the president of Municipality, the participation of its directors in these meetings.
Direct contact with population delegates makes accountability meetings one of the most important moments in our political and institutional system.
In discussing this process, the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party and president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández, urged to achieve the goals of the process and to strengthen his contribution to identifying the problems that exist in the neighborhoods, as well as mobilizing its inhabitants to contribute to solving them.
Accountability takes place in a context characterized by the effects of the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the Government of the United States against the people of Cuba. Added to the disadvantages are the dissatisfactions created by the abusive and speculative prices that further limit the purchasing power of the majority of citizens.
The deterioration of the quality of services, the difficulties of access to important resources, the internal deficiencies in different areas and the increase in subversive actions typical of unconventional war, that the current that North American administration continued against the Revolution. improve this process.
However, in the face of attempts to undermine the direct exchange of delegates with their voters, the desire to support our democracy will prevail, which is to defend the stability and development of socialism in the Island.
Santiago de Cuba will reach the next stage of the delegate’s accountability to his constituents in the midst of the effort to advance the transformation of communities through constructive and social actions that allow the elimination of the accumulated problems in the most vulnerable neighborhoods. Although there is much to be done in this regard, the renewal activity strengthens the exchange of voters and allows the development of community work integrated in each constituency, as well as the promotion of citizen participation.
