During the session, Raul Castro presented the proposals for the new Council of State under the principle that “though the Communist Party does not nominate anybody, it cannot be foreign to the election of the top government leaders.”

According to Granma news paper, the Central Committee members approved the proposals that were later submitted to the parliament, in tune with article five of the Cuban Constitution, which reads that “the Communist Party (…), organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, is the top leading force of society and the state.”

Raul Castro explained about the proposal of Miguel Diaz-Canel as first vice-president of the Council of State and other members of that Parliament body. He said that this was the first step to orderly and progressively hand over to the new generations of Cubans the country’s top government posts, a process that will continue during the next five years.

The action is in tune with the accords adopted by the 6th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party and its First National Conference in relation to the policy of cadres.

Raul acknowledged the attitude of former first vice-president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and army corps General Abelardo Colome in offering their state posts in favor of promoting new generations as part of the principle of continuity and renovation that marks the future of the country.

The first secretary of the Communist Party also stressed the work of the Electoral and Candidature commissions, which was reflected in the new parliament, which has a better balance of its membership, given by race, age, educational level, and genre, among other aspects.

Raul said that the new parliament will have intense legislative work to do, aimed at strengthening Cuban institutional order and at implementing the economic and social guidelines adopted by the Cuban Communist Party.