Cuban President Diaz-Canel To Tackle 'inefficiencies' After Reelection

Faizan Hashmi Published April 20, 2023 | 12:40 PM

Havana, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Apr, 2023 ) :Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel vowed to "resolve inefficiencies" after clinching a second five-year term on Wednesday in a parliamentary vote for which he was the sole candidate in a country where political opposition is illegal.

Diaz-Canel's bid was confirmed with 459 of the 462 legislators present in the Communist Party of Cuba-aligned National Assembly voting for his reelection, its president Esteban Lazo announced in the chamber.

The president then urged his cabinet to "face up to obstacles and resolve inefficiencies" in order to "increase the supply of goods and services and to control inflation." Diaz-Canel also criticized "the bureaucratism, indifference (and) the unacceptable corruption" that he said was holding the country back during difficult times.

The 62-year-old took over the reins in 2018 as Cuba's first civilian leader after nearly 60 years of hegemony by the Castro brothers, and set out in pursuit of cautious economic liberalization.

His first five years in office were marked by the worst economic crisis in three decades.

Diaz-Canel's 459 votes amounted to 97.66 percent of the 470 members of the National Assembly, eight of whom were not present for the vote.

"Taking into account the announced results, I declare lawmaker Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez the elected president of the Republic," said Lazo.

The National Assembly also voted to reelect Lazo, 79, his deputy Ana Maria Mari Machado, 59, and the country's vice-president Salvador Valdes Mesa, 77.