OREANDA-NEWS. The Cuban parliament elected a president of the country. The head of the Council of State Miguel Diaz-Canel took this post during an extraordinary meeting in Havana.

“The President of the National Electoral Council Alina Balseiro reports the result of the vote and announces that the following have been elected: the President of the Republic – Miguel Diaz-Canel, the Vice President of the Republic – Salvador Valdes," the report on the page of the National Assembly of People’s Power on Twitter reads.

575 out of 605 deputies of the parliament participated in the vote. Beside Diaz-Kanel, 17 persons applied for the post of president of Cuba, but observers predicted his victory before the vote.

Estaban Lazo Hernandez, former speaker of the parliament, became a head of the National Assembly and the Council of State instead of Diaz-Kanel.

The post of president was introduced in the country after a constitutional referendum in February 2019. More than 73 % of citizens voted for the draft Constitution. The law introduced the post of president (earlier, the head of state was the chairman of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers) and prime minister. It also limited the tenure of the head of state to two terms of 5 years, recognized the right to private property, proclaimed principles of respect for international law, declared rejection of all forms of terrorism, the renunciation of weapons of mass destruction and the struggle against climate change. One of the basic principles of the Cuban state’s activity is called the building of socialism, and the Communist Party remains the guiding political force of society and the state.