Cuba to Hold Legislative Elections Feb 3

Cuba on Wednesday announced elections will be held on February 3 for the country's national and provincial assemblies, a process controlled by Cuba's communist party.

Under the electoral system in place in Cuba since 1976, recently-elected delegates to municipal councils choose candidates from among themselves to run for the provincial assemblies and for half the seats in the National Assembly of People's Power.

Candidates for the other half of the 610 national assembly seats are put forward by Communist Party-affiliated organizations for workers, women, students, farm workers and the like.

The vote is secret and direct.

The new national assembly then elects from its members the 31-person Council of State that governs the country, which is led by President Raul Castro.

Although candidates do not directly represent the Communist Party, the party supervises the process and uses its influence to ensure no dissidents are proposed as candidates.