Cuban Parliament Passes New Constitution to be Voted in Referendum Next February

Cuban citizens with electoral rights have been summoned to vote for the new Carta Magna in a referendum to be held on February 24th, 2019

After the approval of the new Constitution by the deputies, Esteban Lazo, president of the National Assembly of People’s
Power, summoned Cuban citizens with electoral rights to the referendum on the Magna Carta, which will take place on Sunday, February 24, 2019.

At the proposal of the Council of State, the question that will be put to the vote will be: Do you ratify the new Constitution of the Republic? This statement was accepted by the parliamentarians.

José Luis Toledo Santander, president of the Constitutional and Juridical Affairs Commission, read the opinion in which it is expressed that the question presented expresses clearly and concretely the question to be consulted, therefore it corresponds with what is established in article 166 of the Electoral Law.

He affirmed that according to article 137 of the current Magna Carta, the working group considers that the constitutional requirements established for the conduct of the referendum called and adjusted to the legal requirements of the question to be asked are met.

Homero Acosta, secretary of the Council of State, clarified to the deputies that after long days of work the new Constitution is finally ready and that what will take place on February 24th – the 124th anniversary of the resumption of the struggles for independence – will be the ratification of the text by the people.

After taking into account the results of the popular consultation process and the criteria of deputies, the new Magna Carta has 229 articles, 11 titles, two special provisions, 13 transitional provisions and two final provisions.