Who got elected to the National Assembly?

In 1998, the National Assembly was composed of 601 delegates. Here is a breakdown of their various backgrounds (Some delegates are counted more than once as they hold positions in addition to their full-time jobs.)

• 145 workers, peasants, co-operative workers, educators, health service employees and others directly linked to production and services
• 26 scientists
• 7 sports men and women
• 30 journalists, writers, artists and other cultural workers
• 35 from the Armed Forces or Ministry of Interior
• 64 leaders and functionaries of the Communist Party of Cuba or Communist Youth
• 56 leaders of mass organizations
• 41 leaders and functionaries of the state apparatus
• 173 leaders of local government
• 90 leaders of the consejos populares (administrative districts within a municipality)
• 21 administrators or functionaries in the national government
• 3 religious pastors

This is no revolutionary "old boys club" as can be seen from the following statistics.

• only 38 deputies were over 65
• the average age of all delegates was 45
• 28% of delegates were women
• 46% of them were already delegates to their Municipal Assemblies
• 65% of them were elected for the first time in 1997-98
• approximately 20% were not members of the Communist Party

In short, the National Assembly is fairly representative of Cuban society as a whole.

Reference

• Arnold August, Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections, Editorial Jose Marti, 1999, p. 365

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