Elections and Citizen Sovereignty

Elections and Citizen Sovereignty / Dimas Castellano
Dimas Castellanos, Translator: Unstated

In his book The Social Contract–one of the most influential works of
political theory of the 18th century–the French writer, Jean Jacques
Rousseau, proposed the following theory: The union of persons to protect
their well-being emanates from a general will that transforms the
parties to the contract into a collective political body. The exercise
of this will confers power, which is referred to as sovereignty, and the
party exercising it–the people–is sovereign. Based on this contract, the
people choose officials to carry out the general will and temporarily
invest them with a mandate to propose and effect laws, and to preserve
citizens' liberties.

From this work of philosophy and political theory it is possible to
infer the vital importance of civil, political and economic rights
constitutionally ratified through popular participation, including the
ability to retract the mandate granted to these officials. It is this
sovereign power that grants the parties to the contract the status of
citizens.

Elections, like referendums, are two manifestations of popular
sovereignty. Through them the sovereign chooses, from among nominated
candidates, officials to hold public office and temporarily invests them
with authority over certain areas and distinct functions. Through
referendums the sovereign participates in decision making on different
matters of common interest such as the approval or rejection of laws
before they are promulgated. Both tools, although not comprehensive,
make up an important and decisive aspect of popular sovereignty.

In Cuba the constitution of 1940 widened the rights and freedoms
envisioned in the 1901 constitution. It ratified the division of powers,
confirmed the sovereignty of the Cuban people from which the Assembly of
People's Power is derived, extended universal suffrage to women, and in
article 40 provided adequate safeguards for the protection of individual
rights which had previously been guaranteed. These legal
precepts–guarantees of sovereignty held by citizens–provided the basis
for the democratic electoral processes which took place between 1940 and
1948, and the civil and military resistance that led to the 1952
government overthrow.

Fidel Castro acknowledged the freedoms outlined in the 1940 constitution
during his trial for the assault on the Moncada Barracks when he said,
"I will tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a republic. It had
its constitution, its laws, its freedoms. A President, Congress and its
courts. Everyone could assemble, associate, speak and write with
complete freedom. The government did not satisfy the people, but the
people could change it, and it only took a few days to do so. Public
opinion was respected and accepted, and all the problems of common
interest were freely discussed. There were political parties, doctrinal
hours on the radio, polemical programs on television, public
demonstrations, and the public pulsed with enthusiasm." He explained
that, for these reasons, the first of the five laws to be proclaimed
after the triumph of the revolution would return sovereignty to the
people and proclaim the constitution of 1940 the supreme law of the
land. This made clear that the revolutionary movement, as the temporary
incarnation of this sovereignty, assumed all commensurate authority
except the authority to modify the constitution itself.

On January 8, 1959, after assuming power, the revolutionary leader made
assurances that elections would be held as soon as possible, which
presumably implied the restoration of the constitution of 1940.
Nevertheless, on February 7 of that year the Magna Carta was replaced
with the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cuba, violating one of the
essential attributes of popular sovereignty–the ability to reform the
supreme and fundamental law of the nation. Under provisions of the
Fundamental Law, which was in effect until the passage of the
constitution of 1970, the Council of Ministers assumed all legislative
functions, thereby concentrating power and facilitating the turn towards
totalitarianism.

Currently Cuban elections are governed by the Fundamental Law,
promulgated in 1992, which stipulates that Cubans sixteen years or older
can–through free, equal and secret balloting–elect or be elected to
various positions in the assemblies of People's Power, to the offices of
President, Vice-President, and Secretary of these assemblies, and to the
Council of State.

Under the Electoral Law the direct vote is limited to the election of
delegates to municipal assemblies since the candidates for provincial
assemblies and for the National Assembly of People's Power, as well as
for the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary and the other members of
the Council of State are chosen by the Commission on Candidates. This
body is in turn made up of the Center of Cuban Workers, the Committees
for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women, the
National Association of Small Farmers, the University Students'
Association and the Federation of Middle Education Students, all of
which are members of the only political party permitted under the
current constitution. As a result, in elections for provincial or
national office, the candidates coming from municipal assemblies–those
elected by direct vote–cannot exceed more than 50% of the total number
of candidates. The other 50% are nominated directly by the
above-mentioned commissions, which include individuals who have not been
elected by direct popular vote, rendering popular sovereignty useless.

The constitution of 1976, revised in 1992 and 2002, ignores the rights
and freedoms guaranteed under previous constitutions, while the
Electoral Law now in force limits direct popular vote to municipal
elections. This explains why in today's Cuba there are Cubans but no
citizens, as exemplified by the lack of interest in certain elections
held in order to legitimize the status quo, but useless in bringing
about changes that society demands.

Unequivocal proof of this lack of national interest is that these days
Cubans talk about and discuss the elections in Venezuela or the United
States, but no one except the news media talks about elections in Cuba.
All this is an indication of the necessity to include, among other
changes, a radical reform of the current electoral system so that
popular sovereignty occupies the position it deserves.

Published in Diario de Cuba

October 29 2012

http://translatingcuba.com/elections-and-citizen-sovereignty-dimas-castellano/