Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/2156325/castro-proposes-changes-cuban-constitution-including-term-limits
World/ Americas

Castro proposes changes to Cuban constitution, including term limits for leaders

Revised constitution would also define marriage as ‘the consensual union between two people, regardless of gender’, paving the way for gay marriages

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel (second left) applauds as former president Raul Castro arrives at the National Assembly session on July 21, 2018. Photo: AFP

After leaving the Cuban government at age 86, Raul Castro is proposing a new constitution that would limit the age of future presidents to 60 at the start of their first terms.

The constitutional reforms, discussed on Saturday by the Cuban parliament, would also erase the word “Communism” from the document and open the way for same-sex marriage, according to television coverage of the gathering.

But the proposed constitution repeats that Cuba’s socialist system is “irrevocable” and says the Communist Party is the only legal party and holds a “vanguard” role in the country’s affairs.

Castro and his brother Fidel ruled Cuba until well into old age. Miguel Diaz-Canel, 58, succeeded Raul Castro as head of the government in April.

Members of the National Assembly voting. Photo: AP
Members of the National Assembly voting. Photo: AP

Castro has often spoken about the need for a “generational change” in the government leadership, and the need to enforce term limits on future presidents.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba from 1959 until 2006, when he passed power to Raul.

Raul, who is still in charge of the Communist Party and heads the commission that wrote the draft of the constitutional changes, seems to be taking steps to avoid a long run at the top by another president.

The draft would restrict presidents to two terms and says they must not be older than 60 at the start of the first term. The proposed new system of government also calls for a division of powers at the top.

The draft’s proposals for the posts of president, vice-president and prime minister have sparked speculation about the powers that Diaz-Canel might really have.

The issue appears to be sensitive, and the secretary of the Council of State, Homero Acosta, spent time explaining to parliament that the president would not be a “ceremonial” figure, especially because it will be the president who will nominate the prime minister to the parliament.

Miguel Diaz-Canel (centre) and Homero Acosta (right) at the National Assembly session on July 21, 2018. Photo: AFP
Miguel Diaz-Canel (centre) and Homero Acosta (right) at the National Assembly session on July 21, 2018. Photo: AFP

It’s not a matter of “a ceremonial, figurehead president, but a president with [real] functions in the government,” Acosta said.

Nevertheless, the president will not be directly in charge of the Council of Ministers – which would be run by the prime minister – or the Council of State, which Raul and Fidel Castro and Diaz-Canel have headed.

Although US analysts doubted preliminary reports published in the official news media, it has now been confirmed that the draft says the president of the parliament, the National Assembly, will also preside over the Council of State – making that person very powerful.

The Assembly, if the draft is approved as is, would also have the power to interpret the constitution – a role held by the highest courts in most other countries.

Miguel Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro at the National Assembly session. Photo: AFP
Miguel Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro at the National Assembly session. Photo: AFP

The official webpage Cubadebate also reported on Saturday that the new constitution would define marriage as “the consensual union between two people, regardless of gender”. That has been one of the demands by LGBT groups on the island and Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela, who heads a sex education centre in Havana.

Acosta underlined that the language of the constitution must be flexible, and that several laws will have to be changed to implement the constitutional reforms.

Other aspects of the draft have been less surprising.

The president will continue to be elected by parliament and not directly by voters – a change that many Cubans wanted.

And the new constitution will recognise private property but “retains the essential principles of socialist ownership by the people over the basic means of production and central planning as a principal component”, according to the official Granma newspaper.

The draft constitution must be approved by the National Assembly and will be submitted later to a referendum.