| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Asamblea nacional del Poder popular / National Assembly of the People's Power |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
20 January 2008 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all seats in the National Assembly of the People's Power on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The main issue in the January 2008 elections was whether President Fidel Castro would seek re election as Head of State. Mr. Castro, who is 81, had led Cuba since 1959, but handed over control of the government to his younger brother, Raúl, following surgery in July 2006. The National Assembly of the People's Power, the unicameral Parliament of Cuba, elects the 31 member Council of State, whose President is also the leader of the country.
At stake in the 2008 elections were 614 seats in the National Assembly of the People's Power. The number of seats was increased from 609 due to an increase in the population.
As in previous elections, a minimum of two candidates per constituency were nominated by municipal assemblies. Voters were asked to vote for either the full list or each candidate individually in their constituency. In order to be elected, candidates need to secure at least half of the valid votes.
Election campaigning is forbidden in the country. On the polling day, President Castro sent a message to Cubans announcing that he had cast an absentee ballot and urged them to vote massively.
Although voting is not compulsory, turnout has been traditionally high. In the 2008 elections, 96.89 per cent of the 8.4 million registered voters turned out at the polls. A total of 91 per cent of voters approved the full list of candidates, while others opted to vote selectively for some but not all candidates. All 614 candidates were elected. Mr. Raúl Castro was elected with the highest score - 99.4 per cent of the votes - surpassing his elder brother by one percentage point.
Among the 614 newly elected members, 265 were women, while 385 were first timers. 56 per cent of them were born after the 1959 Revolution. The average age of the newly elected members is 49 years.
On 19 February, Mr. Fidel Castro announced in the official Communist Party paper that he would not seek a new presidential term, but would retain his seat in parliament.
The newly elected Assembly held its first session on 24 February and re-elected Mr. Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada as its Speaker.
On the same day, the National Assembly of the People's Power elected the 31 members of the Council of State. Mr. Raúl Castro was unanimously elected as President of the Council of State. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 20 January 2008 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
8'231'365 (96.89%)
392'007
7'839'358 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
349
265
43.16%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Production and service activities |
175 |
| Delegates to Local People's Power Bodies |
130 |
| Political party officials |
54 |
| Students and mass Organization officials |
51 |
| Members of the State and Government |
51 |
| Members of the Armed Force and the Ministry of Int |
43 |
| Writers and artists |
26 |
| Research activities |
25 |
| Other administrative officials |
18 |
| Journalism, broadcasting, media |
16 |
| Sports |
10 |
| Others |
6 |
| Pensioners |
5 |
| Religious Institutions representatives |
4 |
|
| Comments |
National Assembly of the People's Power (05.02.2009)
Embassy of Cuba, UK (30.01.2008)
Distribution of seats according to age
Under 35 years: 54
36 to 40 years: 58
41 to 50 years: 236
51 to 60 years: 149
Over 61 years: 117 |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
