Cuba 2018 Draft Constitution - Page 9 of 15

Table of Contents

Title VIII. Local Organs of People’s Power

Chapter I. The Provincial Government

Section One. General Provisions

Article 165

Each province is governed by a provincial government composed of a Governor and a provincial council.

Article 166

The provincial government’s fundamental mission is to work for the social and economic development of the territory, in accordance with the general objectives of the country and to act as a coordinator between the Government of the Republic and the municipalities, for which the provincial government directs, monitors, orients, and contributes to the harmonization of the interests of the province and its municipalities, and exercises the duties and functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 167

The provincial government assists with the development of activities as well as with the implementation of the plans of the entities established within its territory that are not subordinate to it, in accordance with that which is outlined in the Constitution and the laws.

Article 168

The provincial government, in the exercise of its functions and duties, may not assume nor interfere in those that, according to the Constitution and the laws, are powers granted to the municipal organs of people’s power.

Section Two. The Provincial Governor and the Deputy Provincial Governor

Article 169

The provincial governor represents the State within the territory and is the maximum executive-administrative authority within the province.

Article 170

The provincial governor is designated, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, by the National Assembly of People’s Power, or by the Council of State for a term of five years.

Article 171

In order to serve as a provincial governor, one must be a Cuban citizen by birth and may not possess any other citizenship, have reached the age of thirty, reside within the province, and be in full enjoyment of his or her civil and political rights.

Article 172

The Governor is responsible before the National Assembly of People’s Power, the Council of State, and the Council of Ministers, to whom the governor must report and provide information regarding his or her performance at the opportunity and with regard to the issues that they request.

Article 173

The Governor, according to the principles established by the Council of Ministers, organizes and directs the provincial administration for which he or she is assisted by the appropriate administrative entity.

The law determines the creation, structure, and functioning of the provincial administration, as well as its relations with the national and municipal organs of people’s power.

Article 174

The following duties correspond to the provincial governor:

To comply with, and, with respect to matters of the provincial governor’s concern, to ensure compliance with, the Constitution and the laws adopted by the competent State organs;
To convene and preside over the meetings of the provincial council;
To direct, coordinate, and monitor the labor of the organizing structures of the provincial administration and, within the area of his or her competence, to issue orders and to adopt the corresponding decisions;
To call for and to monitor the implementation of the economic development plan as well as the implementation of the province’s budget, in accordance with the policy agreed to by the competent national organs;
To call for and to monitor the implementation of the territorial and urban development and organization plans;
To propose to the Council of Ministers the designation of the deputy provincial governor;
To designate and to substitute the leaders and officials of the provincial administration, and to submit for the ratification of the provincial council those cases that are foreseen by the law;
To present to the Council of Ministers, with prior consultation of the provincial council, the policy proposals that contribute to the holistic development of the province;
To inform the Council of Ministers, with prior consultation of the provincial council, of those decisions of the organs of superior hierarchy that affect the interests of the community or are considered to have overstepped the authority of those that adopted them;
To suspend the agreements and orders of the councils of the municipal administration that do not conform with the Constitution, the laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, and other acts of the organs of the State, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country, informing the respective Municipal Assembly of People’s Power during the first session held after said suspension occurs;
To revoke or to modify the decrees that are adopted by the administrative provincial authorities that answer to it that contravene the Constitution, the laws, and other orders that are in force, or those that affect the interests of other communities or the general interests of the country;
To create temporary commissions or working groups;
To arrange for the publication of the agreements of the provincial council that are of a general interest and to monitor their implementation, and
The other duties that the Constitution or the laws assign to it.

Article 175

The deputy governor is designated by the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the provincial governor, and for the same period.

To serve as a provincial deputy governor the same requirements established for the role of the provincial governor must be met.

Article 176

The provincial deputy governor performs the tasks delegated by the provincial governor.

Additionally, the deputy governor replaces the provincial governor in the case of temporary absence or death, in accordance with the procedure foreseen by the law.

Section Three. The Provincial Council

Article 177

The Provincial Council is a deliberative and collegial organ that performs the functions foreseen within this Constitution and the laws. Its decisions are adopted through a favorable vote of a simple majority of its members.

The Provincial Council is presided over by the Governor and, by law, is composed of the Deputy Provincial Governor, the presidents of the corresponding local assemblies of people’s power, the municipal mayors, as well as other members as determined by the law.

Article 178

The Provincial Council holds its ordinary sessions with the frequency established by the law, and the extraordinary sessions are held when they are convened by the Governor or requested by half of the members of the Provincial Council.

Article 179

The following duties correspond to the Provincial Council:

To comply with, and, with respect to matters of the Council’s concern, to ensure compliance with, the Constitution and the laws adopted by the competent State organs, as well as with the Provincial Council’s own agreements;
To approve and to monitor, with regard to that which corresponds to it, the economic plan as well as the budget of the province;
To adopt agreements within the framework of the Constitution and the laws;
To orient and to coordinate the political, economic, cultural, scientific, social, and defense activities within the territory that the State delegates to the provinces;
To evaluate the results of the municipal administration’s management and define the actions to be realized;
To periodically analyze the attention paid by the provincial and municipal entities to the proposals of the electors as well as the complaints or reports of the population;
To make recommendations to the Governor regarding his or her reports and regarding other issues for which the Governor consults the Provincial Council;
To propose the suspension of agreements or orders of the municipal assemblies of People’s Power within their territory to the Council of State when the municipal assemblies agreements or orders contravene the superior legal norms or otherwise affect the interests of the community;
To propose the revocation or modification of the agreements or orders of the municipal assemblies of people’s power within their territory to the National Assembly of People’s Power when the municipal assemblies’ acts contravene the superior legal norms or otherwise affect the interests of the community;
To create commissions or temporary working groups, and
The other duties that the Constitution or the laws assign to it.

Chapter II. Municipal Organs of the People’s Power

Section One. The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power

Article 180

The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power is the superior organ or the State within the locality and, in consequence, it is invested with the highest authority to exercise the functions of the State within its territory; in order to do this, it will exercise the duties that the Constitution and the laws assign to it within the areas of its competence.

Article 181

The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power is composed of the representatives elected within each of the districts into which its territory is divided into for electoral purposes through the free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors.

Article 182

The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power with be renewed every five years, which is the term during which its representatives will hold office.

This mandate may only be extended through a decision of the National Assembly of People’s Power, in the cases foreseen in the Constitution.

Article 183

Upon its creation, the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power will elect its President and Vice President and designate its Secretary, from among its representatives and in accordance with the procedure foreseen in the law.

The President of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power represents the State within its territory.

The law establishes the duties of the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power.

Article 184

The ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power are public, except in cases that the council agrees to hold behind closed doors, due to the interests of the State or due to the issue under consideration referring to the honor of the people involved.

Article 185

During the sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power a quorum of more than half the total members must be present. The assembly’s agreements are adopted by a simple majority vote.

Article 186

The following duties correspond to the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power:

To comply with, and, with respect to matters of concern to the Municipal Assembly, to ensure compliance with, the Constitution and the laws adopted by the competent State organs;
To approve and to oversee, with regard to that which corresponds to it, the economic plan as well as the budget of the municipality;
To approve the urban and territorial development plans, and to oversee their implementation;
To select, designate, revoke, or substitute the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the Assembly, as necessary;
To designate or to substitute the Municipal Mayor, upon the proposal of the President of the Municipal Assembly;
To designate or to substitute the rest of the members of the Municipal Administration, upon the proposal of the Mayor;
To adopt agreements and to enact provisions within the area of its competency with regard to matters of municipal interest, and to ensure their realization;
To monitor and to oversee the activities of the Council of the Administration of the Municipality, assisting with its labor commissions, without prejudice to the monitoring activities performed by other organs and entities;
To supervise, with regard to issues that concern it and in accordance with that which is established by the Council of Ministers or the Provincial Government, the organization, operation, and work of the entities charged with realizing activities regarding the economy, production, service, health, assistance, prevention and social care, science, education, culture, recreation, sports, and the protection of the environment within the municipality;
To ensure the strengthening of the law, internal order, as well as the defensive capacity of the state within its territory;
To propose to the Council of Ministers or to the Provincial Government, depending on the case, the revocation of the decisions adopted by their subordinate organs or authorities;
To revoke or to modify the decisions adopted by the subordinate organs or authorities when they contravene the superior legal norms, affect the interests of the community, or exceed the faculties of those that adopted them;
To approve the creation of the people’s municipal councils, with prior consultation of the Council of the State;
To assist, in accordance with that which is foreseen in the law, with the execution of the policies of the State within its territory, as well as with the development of the production and service activities of the other entities within the territory that are not subordinated to it;
To create working commissions and to approve the general guidelines for their work, and
Any other duty that is assigned to it by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 187

The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, in order to exercise its functions, is supported by the people’s councils, the initiative and the ample participation of the population, and it acts in close coordination with the social and mass organizations.

Section Two. The Delegates of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power

Article 188

The delegates perform the mandate that has been conferred upon them by their electors, in the interest of the entire community, for which they must share these functions, with their responsibilities and usual tasks. The law regulates the form in which they will perform these functions.

Article 189

The representatives have the following duties:

To maintain a permanent relationship with their electors, promoting the community’s participation in the solution of its problems;
To inform the Municipal Assembly and the administration of the locality of the opinions, needs, and difficulties that are communicated to them by their electors, and to work towards generating solutions for them, with regard to that which pertains to them;
To inform the electors about the policies that are adopted by the Municipal Assembly as well as the means adopted to resolve the necessities proposed by the population or the difficulties encountered in attempting to resolve them;
To periodically report to the electors regarding their activities, in accordance with that which is established in the law, and to inform the Assembly, the Commissions, and the People’s Council to which they belong regarding their compliance with the tasks that have been entrusted to them when required, and
Any other duty that is recognized the Constitution and the laws.

Article 190

The delegates have the following rights:

To participate with voice and vote in the sessions of the Municipal Assembly and in the meetings of the commissions and popular councils that they are a part of;
To request information from the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly, the members of the commissions, and the Council of the Administration regarding issues relevant to the exercise of their functions, and to obtain a response within the same session or as soon as possible;
To request attention and information from entities throughout the territory with respect to situations or problems that affect their electors, with the obligation to respond in a timely manner, and
Any other right that the Constitution and the laws recognize.

Article 191

The mandate of the representatives is revocable at any moment. The law determines the form, the causes, and the procedures for revocation.

Section Three. Commissions of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power

Article 192

The permanent working commissions are constituted by the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power that attends to the specific interests of the locality. They are formed in order to assist with the realization of the activities within their locality and, especially, in order to monitor the entities that are subordinate to the municipality.

Additionally, the commissions may request that the entities of other subordinate levels within the territory inform them regarding aspects that directly affect the locality.

The temporary commissions perform the specific tasks assigned to them within the period indicated to them.

Section Four. The People’s Council

Article 193

The People’s Council is a local organ of People’s Power that is representative, vested by the highest authority to perform its functions and, without constituting an intermediate authority for the purposes of the political-administrative division of the country, it is organized within cities, towns, neighborhoods, villages, and rural areas, through the delegates elected within the districts of the locality’s territorial demarcation. The delegates elected must also determine who will preside over the council from among the elected members.

Representatives of the social and mass organizations, as well as important entities within the territory, may be invited to the meetings of the People’s Council, depending upon the issues and themes to be dealt with, with the principal objective of strengthening coordination and collective effort for the benefit the community, within the functions that they themselves perform.

Article 194

The Popular Council represents the population of the area within which it acts as well as the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power. It monitors the entities of production and services with a local impact, and it actively works to satisfy economic, health, welfare, educational, cultural, sport, and recreational needs as well as those in the area of prevention and social care, thereby promoting the maximum participation of the population and local initiatives in order to achieve these initiatives.

The law regulates the organization and duties of the People’s Council.

Section Five. Guarantees of the Right to Petition and Local Popular Participation

Article 195

The Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, in order to guarantee the rights of petition and citizens’ participation:

Convenes a popular consultation for matters of local interest in accordance with the Assembly’s powers;
Provides adequate attention to the requests, proposals, and complaints that are received from the population;
Guarantees the right of the municipality’s population to propose to the Assembly the analysis of issues within its competence;
Ensures that an adequate level of information is maintained for the population regarding the decisions that are of a general interest to them when they are adopted by the organs of People’s Power.
Analyzes, upon a petition of the citizens, its own agreements and orders or those of the subordinate municipal authorities if they are claimed to harm the interests of the citizens, both individual or collective in nature, and adopts the corresponding means of resolving them, and
Any other action that is necessary to guarantee these rights.

The law establishes the form and the way in which the citizens may exercise these guarantees.

Section Six. Municipal Administration

Article 196

The Municipal Administration’s essential objective is to satisfy the needs of the collectivity within the territory under its jurisdiction with respect to the economy, health, welfare, education, culture, sports, and recreation as well as to perform tasks related to prevention and social care.

The law determines the organization, structure, and operation of the Municipal Administration.

Article 197

The Council of the Administration is designated by the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, to which it is subordinate and must report. Its composition, membership, and functions are established by the law.

Article 198

The Council of the Municipal Administration is presided over by the Mayor, is collegial, performs executive and administrative functions, and manages the Municipal Administration.