Proposed changes for improved governance

CUBA is on the verge of the most dramatic restructuring of its government in decades as popular criticism and frustration with a sluggish economy and bureaucracy mount.

If a revamped constitution is passed next month, as reports in the state-controlled media have suggested, new executive positions, from a prime minister to provincial governors and municipal mayors, will be created to lighten the load on single figureheads, such as the president, and increase the focus on executing policy.

Under the proposals, provincial government will be reduced in a land the size of the US state of Pennsylvania and municipal government strengthened.

“The structural changes in government proposed in the constitution all seem aimed at improving efficiency,” said William Leogrande, a professor of government at the American University.

“For example, the new post of prime minister puts someone in charge of the day-to-day job of overseeing the ministries,” he said.

The proposals dovetail with ongoing economic reforms of the Soviet-style system. They imply stronger governance, such as making state companies more autonomous and implementation of a tax system after more than a half a century of no direct taxes.

The terms of ward delegates, the only directly elected leaders in the country, will double to five years and the leaders of municipal assemblies and mayors will make up provincial councils led by the governor, replacing provincial assemblies.

The ward-level delegates already make up the municipal assemblies and elect their local executives.

They will now also ratify the governors proposed by the president who will co-ordinate between the national and municipal levels. |