Cuban President Raul Castro said a more compact and operational structure is required, with a lower number of institutions under the central administration of the State.
Key Address by Cuban President Raul Castro
Raúl Castro”s biography

Dossier: Miembros Consejo Estado
Galería de fotos

Speaking at the plenary session of the People”s Power National Assembly, shortly after the Seventh Legislature was installed, the president called for a better distribution of the State”s functions.

At his proposal, the Parliament agreed to hold a session to analyze the composition of the government.

“This is a timely decision, since we are not dealing only with appointments, but rather with decisions about which changes might be required in the system of institutions pertaining to the central administration of the State, and this needs more time,” he pointed out.

Raul Castro added that since the triumph of the revolution until 1994, “the State structures inherited from capitalism were adjusted as we went along to undertake the tasks imposed by the radical economic, political and social changes.” “The 1960″s institutionalization process, however imperfect, enabled us to structure an articulate system corresponding to those circumstances. We were then able to put ourselves on a level with the socialist countries, in terms of both good and bad experiences,” he recalled.

The Cuban president noted that institutionalization process in the 1970s and the adjustments made in 1994, amid the economic crisis, led to the reduction and merging of institutions as well as to the redistribution of the tasks previously entrusted to some of them.

Now, when the national and international panorama has changed considerably, “a more compact and operational structure is required, with a lower number of institutions under the central administration of the State,” said the newly-elected president.

He explained that this would enable us to reduce the enormous amount of meetings, coordination, permissions, conciliations, provisions, rules and regulations, among other problems.

Such measures, he added, will also allow bringing together some decisive economic activities which are presently disseminated through various entities, and to make a better use of our cadres.

He pointed out that the majority of Cubans, from all walks of society, at different stages of the Revolution, including the present, are increasingly convinced that the only source of wealth for the society rests with the productive work, above all when man and resources are efficiently employed.

Raul Castro recalled, on the other hand, that during a recent visit to Santiago de Cuba, he said that the massive support enjoyed by the revolution demands from us that we question everything we do in order to improve on it.

In that regard, he repeated that if the people are firmly united behind a single party, this must be more democratic than any other, and so must be the entire society, which, of course, can be improved, as any other human work.

He said every citizen must have the opportunity to express his/her criteria within the law, and called on to stop fearing discrepancies.

“The best solutions can come from a profound exchange of differing opinions, if such an exchange is guided by sensible purposes and the views are uttered with responsibility,” the Cuban president stressed.

“Our democracy is as participatory as few others are, but we should be aware that the functioning of the State and Government institutions is not yet as effective as our people rightfully demand. This is something we should all think about,” he admitted.

He added that in December, he had referred to the excess of prohibitions and regulations, and in the next few weeks, “we shall start removing the most simple of them.” “The suppression of other procedures, even if they might sound simple to some, will take more time for they require a more comprehensive study and changes of certain legal regulations, in addition to the fact that some of these are influenced by measures taken against our country by successive US administrations,” he pointed out.

Technorati , , ,